News & Current Affairs - A New Subscription Board

[[Sh...]]

 

Thank you She and I certainly agree with you that those of us who are in a fragile state should be very careful of sensitive issues.

 

I had an L.O.L moment last year the day after the election. My husband and I made our usual weekly visit to the therapist. We were in a state of shock , but our usually calm counselor was beyond even that. We wound up comforting him whilst he mopped up his tears on the tissues provided for his clients. He had the grace not to bill us.

 

LOL that is too funny!  I had my annual physical the day after the election and my PCP lectured me on why he thought the outcome was good until I asked him to not talk politics or religion because it would drive my blood pressure up and then he would be responsible.  I said it in an lighthearted way but I was not kidding!  I left there thinking I needed to change doctors.  I didn't but still not sure. . . . . .

 

She

[[br...]]

 

Yes I got that reaction from my dermatologist. I had not brought up the election but for some reason he must have thought that I was a fellow Trump supporter. He is a good doctor but has crossed a line .

[[St...]]

I’m sitting here scratching my head at the idea that saying something negative about the president is “triggering”. You know what’s triggering? Having your medical marijuana threatened by the attorney general when it’s the only thing that keeps your benzo induced nerve pain at bay.

[[Ch...]]

I’m sitting here scratching my head at the idea that saying something negative about the president is “triggering”. You know what’s triggering? Having your medical marijuana threatened by the attorney general when it’s the only thing that keeps your benzo induced nerve pain at bay.

 

Hear, hear. 

[[Sh...]]

Here's another triggering realization.  There is a great big nuclear button and it works. 

[[Co...]]

Here's another triggering realization.  There is a great big nuclear button and it works.

 

With a bit of luck, the button is TOO LARGE to handle.

 

Now you have me posting off-topic. Stop it, I tell you!

 

Seriously though, let's keep the political stuff to the new board.

 

Thanks.

[[Sh...]]

Will do Colin.  Its just SO tempting!

 

She

[[Lo...]]

I miss Brave Rabbit. She shows up, says something brave, and then just runs off.... 

[[br...]]

 

No I'm still here . Just getting over a wave but worry not , the door to the rabbit hutch will soon be open and I will be posting again.

[[Sh...]]

Maybe we need a "Politics Lite" board for us sensitive folks.  You know, 75% rancor reduced comments, same great taste, less triggering.

[[Lo...]]

 

No I'm still here . Just getting over a wave but worry not , the door to the rabbit hutch will soon be open and I will be posting again.

 

Great . Glad to hear you are somehow surviving.....

[[Lo...]]

Maybe we need a "Politics Lite" board for us sensitive folks.  You know, 75% rancor reduced comments, same great taste, less triggering.

 

I am all for "Politics Lite" board, too.

[[br...]]

I don't think that it would stay lite for very long. The whole political situation is more bat sh-t crazy than the recovery process from benzos. Talk about non-linear. My head is spinning like Linda Blair's did in 'The Exorcist '.

[[Ch...]]

We blasted off kind of hot and heavy, which will get us entirely nowhere, but let's not give up on trying to communicate civilly.  She and LF, you're good at taking a moderate tone, your voices are important.

 

Times are tough but if you live in the US, we're all on the same boat, and this affects us all. 

 

 

[[Sh...]]

I don't think that it would stay lite for very long. The whole political situation is more bat sh-t crazy than the recovery process from benzos. Talk about non-linear. My head is spinning like Linda Blair's did in 'The Exorcist '.

 

I agree BR.  My comment was tongue-in-cheek.  Mostly.  I wouldn't mind inserting the odd "lite" political comment here and there, but it has to be all or nothing.  I do understand why.

 

She

[[br...]]

 

This is just my opinion , but the divisions in the country surely are reminiscent of the Civil War or if you are from the South, 'The War Between The States'.

[[St...]]

They do feel unresolvable. Which is why actually talking politics doesn’t interest me. We’re on a message board trying to survive. I can’t imagine it being helpful to learn a buddy who might be my lifeline somewhere down the road, actually wants me to suffer because of US party politics. No thanks. I prefer the illusion that all is buddies are on the same team.

[[Sh...]]

I guess the closest we will come to a political discussion on this thread is discussing whether or not we should have political discussions, which in its own way is a political discussion about political discussions and not a discussion about the politics themselves, political discussions being highly volatile, but discussions about discussions being seemingly less so.

 

She

[[Lo...]]

They do feel unresolvable. Which is why actually talking politics doesn’t interest me. We’re on a message board trying to survive. I can’t imagine it being helpful to learn a buddy who might be my lifeline somewhere down the road, actually wants me to suffer because of US party politics. No thanks. I prefer the illusion that all is buddies are on the same team.

 

Yes, this whole withdrawal business somehow leaves politics more irrelevant in my mind. Not that I am completely uninterested in it, but it just does not hold a whole lot of meaning right now. When fighting for our own survival, a lot of things take a back seat, politics included.

[[Co...]]

I disabled the News & Current Affairs board while I make some changes and write up some new guidelines. This will take a few days as I am otherwise busy. I'll copy here what I wrote on the News board a few minutes ago so that group-members and non-members alike can read them.

 

I know some of you will be saying I told you so, but I did describe the space as 'an experiment'. Since creating the board, I have offered additional guidance (but it is largely ignored). So, I will be setting up the board differently so that new threads must be approved and posting guidelines will be much tighter. I have to say, nowhere did I suggest that normal good taste and forum rules will not apply to the new board. If some are offended by not being allowed to espouse any 'idea' they wish at BB, they will just have to accept it. Some ideas are totally forbidden at BB (and always have been) - that's just the way it is.

 

Enough. I'm not keeping up with all the posts to this board, but from what I have sampled, many posts/threads continue to fall far below what is expected. One forum-wide rule is 'no hate speech'. This includes defending what is patently hate speech from others. African countries are not 'shitholes'. They are generally poor, but surely this should elicit our sympathies rather than our scorn. It is interesting to note how many of our members have fallen on hard times because of problems associated with benzodiazepines (I did). It is arguable that our realities and situations are far more our own fault than those faced by the vast majority of those living in Africa (and Haiti). To look down upon those living in those countries from our imaginary ivory towers is not only distasteful, it is - frankly - delusional.

 

I'll be locking this board while I work out what to do with it. When it reopens, there will be zero-tolerance to anything which even hints at being 'hateful'. I was willing to allow some limited latitude in the interests of furthering understanding, but some people take a mile when you give them an inch. This stops now.

[[Sh...]]

Thank you for the update Colin.  No smug told you so here, just reflective that something envisioned as a platform for rational discussion has proven so difficult to control to date.  Civility, decorum. dispassionate discourse and manners are a thing of the past in the world at large and it isn't surprising that our forum mirrors that unfortunate paradigm.  Hopefully your new guidelines will help make it the thought provoking place it can be, just without all the rancor.

 

She

[[sw...]]

Colin:

 

Thanks for your attempt. I was hoping that this forum would provide a place to talk about the "politics of Benzos" without dragging in the kitchen sink. Perhaps that isn't possible. I am a chronic lyme survivor and many that have healed have tried to change the perception of that disease. That needs people who have been down this road. BB is such a gift to all of us. Thank you for all you have done to make this website help so many people. You are a gift, Colin.

 

Tommy

[[St...]]

What happened?

 

 

[[Co...]]

Hi swammi01,

 

To be frank, there was no decision to abandon this; it was purely that I had a couple of medical issues from early Jan which have only just been cleared up. The first was a nasty flu (I did have the shot, but only a couple of days before - not long enough for it to take effect - and I still have small cough from that; the second medical problem is non-serious (as it turns out), but it needed to be resolved (it is).

 

I may look at this again, but it has not been on my mind. And, since yours is the first comment/inquiry about the closed board, I guess there is not a great deal of interest either.