Did not. I have my own set of marbles, which I bought years and years ago (at least a full decade ago) and I keep them in an owl-shaped jar. This way, nobody can accuse me of losing my marbles. I know right where they are.
Good luck killing a Gorgon, BTW.
I didn’t say that censorship was at the top, but near the top. And yes, there is a long list of evil out there.
No matter your opinion, censorship is fucking wrong, man.
I agree whole-heartedly with the OP. Mr. Zotti’s self-serving censorship is eroding of the spirit and quality of the SDMB as a forum. That is, without question, the reason I did not renew my paid membership and the reason I took a leave of absence from the boards.
The complaint about the policy that didn’t exist, you mean?
More than that. You TOTALLY took my bait. What, did you never even say to yourself, “This is Skald I’m dealing with. There’s a snag here someplace. It’s like iocane poison.”
Because if you didn’t, that makes me sad.
I am very pleased to know where you keep your marbles. No particular reason. It’s not like I compulsively steal marbles or anything. I know I’ve been accused of such things in the past, but there’s never been any proof.
:: wanders off with bulging pockets ::
(Censorship mine).
You got into the WRONG owl-shaped jar. I want my button collection back now.
Is that a marble in your pocket, or are you mildly pleased to see me?
I’m not admitting anything. Buf if I were to speak in hypothetical turns, I might point out that the black market value of certain buttons is much higher than that of marbles, and that if I were to have absconded with said buttons it would have been for resale so that I might finance my rental of the Helm of Hades and Talaria of Hermes, both of which I will need to slay the Gorgon. You should WANT me to slay the Gorgon, being that it’s a freaking Gorgon. Thus, hypothetically, you out to be willing to forgive the purloining of said buttons.
Hypothetically, of course. I ain’t admitting nothing.
But you have gained me!
Welcome back, the place is addicting isn’t it?
That made me laugh out loud.
More about Zotti’s growing censorship of the boards with repect to voices of dissent. For example his snits over complaints of his vanity forum, the aftermath of Otto’s banning etc. (and the related tirade for which he ended up apologizing).
I haven’t been with this board too terribly long, but his thin skin does seem to be affecting the board overall. From what I’ve seen the Pit has had a few flare ups but has been run fairly smoothly for years, but Zotti’s tweaking of policies and capricious moderation seems to be more to the detriment of the community than any kind of enhancement.
I don’t think I like the kind of Pit that Zotti wants it to be, particularly if it’s the kind of Pit that has to part ways with a top-notch mod like Giraffe. Ed is changing the tone of the board in a way that I don’t feel is a positive thing.
True - my mistake. What can I say? This is, er, not my finest moment on the Dope.
I hardly ever jump into these topics, and granted I’m ‘relatively’ new here, but I came in to say ditto this. At least from my point of view. Nowhere is immune from change, whether it’s intrinsic or driven by outside influences. People change, opinions change and how a message board functions is going to change. How you view the change is up to each of us, but automatically condemning every new thing that comes as “bad” is so completely against how I see this board.
On one hand we talk about how the SDMB is one of the better boards out here, because of the moderation not letting things get out of hand, while the other hand screams censorship. It’s a tough balance, and I don’t envy Ed, the admins or mods who have to figure out how to walk the tightrope.
I’m sure some excellent posters have left here over one issue or another, or as Marley23 says, for any of their own reasons. Some leave, some arrive. It’s a fluid board, as any community ought to be.
How could I not be consoled.
Find one, please. If you’re going to say “stop insulting Jerry” counts as censorship of dissent, I’m not likely to buy it. Same goes for Sapo and his games.
For the record, some people were absolute assholes over this. I understood some people would be unhappy about the forum being added, but I was shocked and disappointed to see people hoping the forum and Ed’s book would fail, for example. You’d think someone was holding them for ransom.
More important than any specific rule is that we be consistent, I think, and I know that not everybody’s clear right now on what’s going on, what’s different and what isn’t and so on. That’s part of what’s we’ve been talking about lately.
I don’t think it’s clear to everybody what Ed actually wants the Pit to be, and since we’re still talking about it I don’t think it’s clear to us either. 
The point is, wait and see first. You may like it or you may not; people have different ideas of what they want, and we have enough people here that there’s always going to be disagreement and we also have a thoughtful membership.
You like me, you really really like me!
Hey, people come and go, things change all the time. It’s pretty obvious to me the there has to be changes made regarding the SD. The simple fact that the ownership is in bankruptcy protection says alot. If you have paid attention to the news, the whole newspaper industry is in flux.
Whether or not you like the direction that the SD is going is probably irrelevant. It’s going to change. All I can hope for is that the changes work out eventually for the better, and that the Straight Dope survives the Bankruptcy.
I think the point is that many feel that if we wait till the changes go into effect it will be too late. There is not a good track record for admitting mistakes on part of the management (probably no worse here than anywhere else but here is what we are talking about) Some probably fear that when the changes happen it will be difficult to complain about them at all.
Lord knows people here tend to keep quiet about any proposed changes they don’t like, right? 
You don’t have to be satisfied with how those situations worked out or with an apology, I know, but I disagree that management here (whether you mean Ed specifically or the staff) doesn’t listen to criticism.
I would not bring that abortion up as a good thing or an example of how management got things right. It happened while I was away from the board for a while and read it later. No one looks good in that, especially the staff. I’m sure if you dig deep enough you can find a better example. But it is still the perception of many posters. It may not be the total truth but there is a basis in fact.