It's "1984" At the Poetry Free For All

[Manuel Tellechea]

To Donner, Harry & HowardM2:

I feel as if I am in my own native Cuba again, or had been transported to a Third-Dimension where Big Brother still rules over helpless proles and one fattened oligarch vies with the other in doggish devotion to the party line and in the savage persecution of those who demonstrate independent thought or the least vestige of character. And this Revolutionary Junta, which are a law unto themselves, call themselves "moderators!" To moderate, of course, means to lessen severity or violence; but in your peculiar Newspeak, it means the opposite: to incite violence (verbal, of course) and promote intolerance. Moderators on other sites serve as arbiters of good taste, deleting obscenity and maintaining a proper decorum. In your site, however, you seek to tell the participants what they should think and what they should say; and, of course, they should think what you think and say what you say. If, as in my case, someone chooses to praise what you find unacceptable, you are quick to brand it "highflown hyperbole" and delete him from the collective memory. And if he persists in the crime of independent thinking, he is banished from the website without explanation or justification. Your goal is obviously to make everyone over in your own image. To raise the consciousness of the proles, you have established an Inquisitorisl banner at the bottom of every posting (except yours, of course) to alert them to the joys of snitching and the rewards of blacklisting. All this mind-altering jumbo-mumbo has had its desired result: there are no gripes in "The Gripes" section. Obviously, everybody is happy, and if there were a vote you would be elected with 99.9989% of the vote. Congratulations, Manuel

[Rachel Lindley]

Mod"er*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moderated; p. pr. & vb. n. Moderating.] 1. To restrain from excess of any kind; to reduce from a state of violence, intensity, or excess; to keep within bounds; to make temperate; to lessen; to allay; to repress; to temper; to qualify; as, to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.; to moderate heat or wind.

Could someone please moderate this idiot?

Rachel
although he did
make me laugh.
Hard.

[HowardM2]

Amazing, ain't it? Yet another newbie has penetrated the veil of secrecy swathed about the innocent-seeming exterior of Poetry Free-For-All (not "Poetry Free For All," by the way) to reveal the harsh, grim totalitarian reality that lies beneath. And after we worked so hard to bury the truth so very deeply in the "Posting Guidelines," the "New Posters' Orientation," the "Forum Descriptions," and "Five Beginners' Blunders" that we thought no one could ever ferret it out.

Except, of course, for someone who actually bothered to read those items before blundering (and blustering) ahead.

Gee, it's déjà vu all over again.

[Alasdair]

Manuel,

From what I've heard Howard and Donner have a secret cloning operation where you see a conveyor belt produce smiling, little Howards and Donners at a rate of 100/hour. I hear the clones can even ask if you've read the posting guidelines at 18 months!

And don't even try and wonder what Harry gets up to in the UK. Have you seen that Eminem video where he is surrounded by 50 other "slim shady" characters? Well, if you go round to see Harry on a Friday night...

Alasdair

[SIZE=4]We are the PFFA. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile[/SIZE]

[HowardM2]

Now you know what the "M2" actually stands for.

[Manuel Tellechea]

Rachel:

I am glad that I made you laugh. But you would have laughed a lot harder if you had been allowed to read my post on the Dalai Lama poem, which, of course, was deleted in both its original and revised versions.

Best regards,

Manuel "the Idiot" (In Newspeak, that means Genius)

[B.D.]

The scene:

A dark , winding, cobblestoned street in Prague, some time in the late evening. Our protagonist stands in the shadows outside the glow of the gaslamps and lights a Gitane. He watches with seething hatred as The Third Batallion of the PFFA marches in tight formation, cursing under his breath as The Special Forces---
the Modifier Eradication Team, the Cliche Combat Corps, et al---
pass by. He bristles with the thought of occupa----but wait---he came here willingly. Glancing up at the city's walls, he realizes there are no coils of razor wire strung, no snipers perched on guard towers. And the gates are wide open. An exit would be all too easy.........

[Manuel Tellechea]

Lear:

No, the lights have been down in Massachusetts for a long time.

Best regards,

Manuel

[Donner]

Manuel,

The expectations of this site are clearly outlined and no one is forcing you to either participate or stay. However, if you choose to participate you will follow the guidelines and post appropriately. If you don't, the moderators will step in. I fail to see how the moderators at other sites do their jobs has anything to do with how we do things here.

Frankly, I'm tired of this kind of "1984" drivel. You've made an incredulous, ludicrous comparision between the totalitarian government of Cuba and a poetry workshop that simply asks people to realistically assess their level of writing and critical skills, and we could sit here all day, posting responses to your ridiculous statements, but I don't think so. I'm going to stick a sock in your diatribe.

If you post any other whines related to the oligarchical behavior of the moderators, they, too, will be closed. Get a grip, get over yourself, or get out.

Donner