[TwoBrainedCylon]

This is directed primarily at Ernie ... although free for all who care. I hope this clears up a few misunderstandings.

In the "critical error" thread you stated that my apology put you off. Never my intent for anyone but I also do not embrace being labeled as "hateful" or other such slanders when I truly am not that way. Thomas and I disagree on many things and I hope over time he'll come to accept that his definitions do not have any authority over me, just as mine do not have any over him. Thomas is an outstanding artist and a magnificient member of fandom. We disagree on much but I do not want our disagreements to ever affect anyone else.

Everyone in the managements of The Cylon Alliance (Cylon.org) has great respect for Colonial Fleets. In times past, we called ourselves "sister sites" and the like and shared an association that was perhaps too close. For practical and personal reasons the sites and moderators had to go their own paths. Cylon.org still supports Colonial Fleets even though I have been personally told by the members here to go away as I was a bad influence. Ernie, you may have been one of those participants. I'm not sure as I didn't keep track and don't really think its important anyway.

For anyone wishing to join Cylon.org, let me be the very first to repeat the warnings already given. It is not a forum for the faint of heart. A few who went there and thought they could take swings at others and not get hit in return have learned that, Eric being the latest. Different forums have different ways of handling disagreements and troublemakers. At Fleets, the moderators quell trouble before it tips the board off of the scales. At Cylon, we give everyone blasters and rudimentary target practice in the hopes they'll shoot the troublemakers before they rob the bank. Both moderating approaches have their own strengths and weaknesses. I never claim that Cylon is for everyone. Neither is Fleets. Different boards have different appeals. If you like them, enjoy them. If not, move elsewhere. Just as I don't enjoy anyone coming to Cylon.org and launching a whine-fest against Fleets or MediaBLVD, I don't appreciate reading such rants about Cylon elsewhere. Its been my experience that those who "just feel compelled" to complain about other boards were usually the ones causing the trouble. Running any BBoard is a challenging task and I can only think of one element in the BSG fandom that does that with anything but the best intentions. All boards eventually cause some member a bad experience. Its a very rare exception that poor treatment, either through a direct act or misinterpretation, is intentional. Mature people understand that. I hope everyone here keeps that in mind the next time the Fleets mods do something that may seem rash or a bit out of bounds. No moderator or admin can run one of these things without some errors every now and then.

Eric's complaints voiced here concern the "Calling You Out" section. That section showboats the core of Cylon and illustrates just how different it is from a place like Fleets. Concurrent with freedom of speech is responsibility. At Cylon.org, if you've used your freedom of speech in a hostile manner or to spread falsehoods or cause emotional harm to others, you're expected to address that member's concerns/objections if they so choose to "Call you out". This accountability is part of the price of membership and your liberal freedom of speech. Honesty and integrity are valued more highly at Cylon than anywhere else and if you violate them, you will likely be called on it. Every member at Cylon.org is subject to being called out, including the moderators. We've found this to be a very effective checks and balances system. So far, only those the moderators feel were intentionally trying to cause trouble seem to have objected to it. I have personally been called out. Although I didn't enjoy it, I did take it like a man and answer all of the concerns as I'd expect all others to answer them. If you're not willing to stand by your own words, you have no place at Cylon.org. Some people have a big problem with this concept but I really don't care. It works very well for us and has never been used as a "revenge" tactic from what I've seen. We encourage all new members to read the RULES and we make the CALL OUT section very apparent.

My apology here at Fleets caused more turmoil than I'd expected. The responses I gained from Eric and Thomas made me feel needlessly insulted and attacked. Others felt that I was disrespectful in my statements. I accept much of that responsibility for not making the initial apology far more specific. It is never my intention to disrupt another board just as I don't enjoy anyone disrupting mine. I hold Don (the owner here) in too high esteem to ever give him insult, even if only by causing turmoil on his Board. Don is a great guy and its been my pleasure to communicate with him as I have. I've enjoyed our many chats and wish we both had time to enjoy many more.

In the past few months I have stepped away from the mechanics of running Cylon.org. The Cylon Alliance is in very good hands with a moderator staff that I greatly respect. Erik will be revamping the new members procedures in the near future. We had to close the board around Nov/Dec due to the huge bandwidth upsurge we got from lurkers. We were drowning in overage charges. Since fandom has become far more quiet, Erik has planned a membership revamp that should work better in the present environment.

For those who ordered me to go away, none of this was meant as an insult or as disrepect for your edicts. I have not returned to cause you disruption but to address uncertainties about my board. Since I am neither a participant here or someone who is welcome, I would appreciate it if those with a chip on their should (like Eric) could show common courtesy and avoid trashing my board in my absence. Just because it didn't appeal to them doesn't mean that it doesn't appeal to quite a few others.


Sandy

P.S. Still love you Jewels.