Arm Chair General (ACG)~ "lifeboat"

[Stryder50]

This thread is in regard to a recently died other forum/message board which went by the name of "Arm Chair General Forums" and intended as a place for former members there to reconnect; and also get updates on "what happened".

That forum was hosted by a magazine publisher; History Net; whom hosted the forum until a few months ago when they declined to renew on the costs of such and that forum suddenly went inactive leaving many "in the dark" and with a WTF?

History Net publishes several magazine titles dealing with assorted history topics and Arm Chair General (ACG) was one of such a until a few years ago when when they suddenly stopped publishing it. They did keep the forum going though as even though it retained the name connected to a no-longer published magazine, it did also have sub-forum/thread areas for their other publications.

This is admittedly a rather narrow focused and limited audience appeal thread, but this seems the sort of rather open forum that would allow for such and not feel threatened the way some of the other "history" forums do/have been.

FWIW, I was one of the active members at ACG, under a different user name, which I could share via a PM.

Also, this seemed the most appropriate place on this forum for this thread/topic.

 

[Stryder50]

This is a copy paste of something I shared in a private conversation area of another history related forum, with former ACG members. Provided here as a form of FYI and more detail as to what this thread is about.

lodestar recently posted in another conversation I have here, this is my reply to him and the others there;

lodestar, and all,
"I feel your pain."
It may be a few days before I've the time to dig back through my emails, but several weeks ago I did exchange a few with David Lauterborn (managing editor for "Military History" magazine) and Jerry Morelock (founder of "Arm Chair General" magazine, consultant to "World War II" magazine). History Net was the publisher of ACG and several other history related magazines.

These exchanges came about when I went to the History Net.com website and scrolling down to the bottom, used the "contact us" tab to make general inquires and then had Lauterborn reply and then he brought Jerry into the exchange.

Homepage Featured Top Stories Archives

www.historynet.com

The short gist of it all would seem to be that History Net is experiencing some financial shortfalls and has had to cut expenses, and renewing ACG forums and the cost of hosting it was one they chose to remove. Jerry also shared that they had given up their more expensive and 'fancy' offices and moved to cheaper digs.

My hunch~suspicion is that only way to recover or archive the ACG Forums would be if someone or consortium of interested parties were to raise the funds and see about purchasing the archived forum and then pay to host it somewhere on the internet. Or if "we" could convince History Net to put it back up as a pay to use/subscriber access archive, or re-activated forum. (as you may recall, there were sub-forum areas at ACG for the other magazines that History Net still publishes - this may be a lever for the PR angle to revive ACG.)

It would seem there are limits to things "living forever" on the internet.

I'd suggest that if several 'more interested parties' were to contact and email History Net on this issue, maybe some traction could get going.

Since Historum killed the earlier thread on this issue, it's not likely we can start another thread here. I'm going to try opening a thread at another forum on the matter, and will provide the link here once done. That other forum is also a sort of history related one;

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Best I have to offer for now ~ more later.
... Stryder 50

 

[Stryder50]

BTW, came across this over at the History Net.com home page, and will "bury" it here for now, "archive" of sorts;
The Etymology of ‘F*ck’ and the War that Popularized it
...
EXCERPTS:
...
Claire Barrett
March 11, 2021

You’re dashing around, running a bit late perhaps, and your pinky toe just happens to connect with the corner of an inanimate object that seemingly just popped up on you despite its relatively permanent and solitary position in your home.

Through watering eyes and an emanating pain that doesn’t seem natural for such a small appendage, you let out an anguished “F*CK!” It’s practically muscle memory.

And yet, most remain unaware of their favorite word’s origins, or the notion that, for many, the F-word become part of the daily lexicon due in large part to service members in World War II.

The etymology of the word itself is murky, but the epithet appears to have hit its stride in the 16th century after famed English lexicographer John Florio published “A Worlde of Wordes,” an Italian-English dictionary intended to teach people these languages as they were really “f*cking” spoken.

F*ck, however, remained in the shadows of polite society largely until the onset of World War II, according to historian Tom Harper Kelly.
...
From privates all the way up to the top brass, the word’s usage was firmly inculcated into the minds and mouths of millions of American service members, so much so that it turned out to be a hard habit to kick upon returning home — eventually spreading through the civilian masses and remaining entrenched within military culture.

“I want to see them raise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, ‘Jesus Christ, it’s the Goddamned Third Army again and that son-of-a-f*cking-***** Patton,’” General George Patton once quipped.

From WWII on down to the Millennial with a stubbed toe, the rampant use of f*ck is here to stay.
....

The Etymology of ‘f*ck’ and the War that Popularized It

“If I hear another f*cking G.I. say ‘f*cking’ once more I’ll cut my f*cking throat."

www.historynet.com

 

[Stryder50]

So that above post dates from a time when I was rather new here, learning the ropes so to speak, and not sure where to post something of such an obscure nature.

I'll admit it doesn't really pertain to the subject matter of this thread, some allowance and indulgence is begged.

The next couple of posts here will bare upon the subject/theme, so with those considerations ...

 

[Stryder50]

With regard to the ACG Forum, I'd been active for several years there with little negative consequence. Seems in the final year or so, that a couple of administrators/moderators began to take exception to my posting activities/positions on issues/topics and I began to have a few unplanned vacations from the site,"bannings".

My perspective is that I didn't share their Leftist~socialist~communist ideological leanings and hence my increasing bans of a few days to a couple of weeks to a month or more. I'm sure their view of such will differ, but I remain unconvinced these were "objective" actions on their part.

Short of the long is that I began to search around for other forums~message boards dealing with history in general and military themes in specific, hence a few others that popped up and to which I made efforts to participate. With mixed results as I'll spell out in next post(s).

 

[Stryder50]

I'm not allowed to mention exact names of other forums here, part of the local ROE, so I'll have to be a bit indirect with the rest of this story, which has a lot to do with how and why I'm here at USMB.

One of the few places I could find on the internet regards forums that weren't too specific and narrow in focus or topic themes was an online 'military history' one. Seems this one was originally mostly about the American Civil War/War Between the States, but had in recent years expanded to the broader range of history, and also other wars and conflicts, along with some related general themes essential to study of history.

Numbers of active posters were maybe a couple~few dozen and readership looked only slightly larger. Also as I spent time there began to notice that a majority of the members leaned a bit Left of center on political orientation, and opposing views were less welcome. Got to a point a few months ago where one of the Leftist~Socialist left in a huff and best I can figure is his return was hinged on my being gone.

Shortly after he "returned" I lost ability to log in with my user name and password. Now I could have tried maybe generate a new ID, a new user name and password, but odds are I'd need a new ISP as well. Which didn't seem worth the trouble and upon reflection, that forum was too small and biased to be worth further investment of time and energy.

I was able to reconnect there with some former ACG associates, so will miss that.

 

[Stryder50]

Another message board/forum I came across looked to offer better potential, large scope of topics and range, as well as larger participation and audience. This 'history forum' has numerous sub-forum/topic areas with many more threads then the one I mentioned in the above post. It also has a rather touchy administrator/moderator staff, with a couple whom seem to have let their power go to their heads. It also comes a cross as a bit schizophrenic in that on the one hand the almost plead for the guests viewing to join, while on the other hand they have a "Suspension Log" thread showing whom has recently be given anything from "time outs" to gone for good bans. An irony is that unless you are a member in good standing whom can login, you can't see the suspension log to know if you have been one of the users placed there.

About a month ago when I went to login one day, I received this message instead;
"You have been banned for the following reason: Nationalism, ignoring moderator warning, politics. Your ban will be lifted on Jul 16, 2021 at 11:00 PM. "

So it looks like tomorrow I might be able to return there, but we'll see. However, as can be seen by the reasons for likely temporary ban, the reasons can be a bit confusing to misleading. I've been able to go their as a "guest"/visitor using a computer at my local library, but as mentioned above, with limits of access to some threads, and my PMs.

Going to what threads I could see, not sure what I posted that had me run afoul of the Mods, so I'm in a guessing mode here.

"nationalism" is one subject that has a very subjective application in my experience, and IIRC, speaking favorably about the USA might be seen as "nationalism", while speaking positively about other nations might slide by. Especially if you are from those nations other than the USA. A linked factor is that thing about "politics". Anyone whom studied history will know that ever since humans began running in tribes and interacting with other tribes of humans, "politics" has been in play. One historian wag, and general, is credited with the adage the "War is the continuation of politics by other means." Another wag has said that war is the result of politics failing.

So it gets hard to discuss history and events, especially wars, without bringing either "nationalism" or "politics". Think Germany from about 1933 to 1945 and how does one address the full equation there without "National Socialist German Workers Party"~NSDAP~Nazis ???

Brings up the point of the linkage of economics and politics, since often certain political systems (or parties) have a lot to do with one form or another of economics, such as free enterprise capitalism versus central planning of the state socialism. ???

Part of the further "schizophrenic" nature there is that one can't also discuss anything after 1990 since it is too recent for objective discussion, per policy of the owner and moderators. Unless you dance about the right way in the Current Events section, but even then, can only go back so far and maybe it's no longer 'current events' in the minds of the mods, so there you are, run afoul again.

As for those moderator warnings, the ones I can recall were in the PM function, something I can't access when banned and unable to login. One interesting development is I've noticed about 11 notifications waiting for me. These are like the "bell" we have in upper right corner here and could be "like", "dislike", or "quote" of one of my posts.

Best gauge I've gotten during the past month is that I also may not be Left enough in my political views to match the admin./mods of that forum, so will be interesting to see (if I can) exactly what I might have said that got me in trouble.

Also, will give a lot of thought to whether to engage on that forum more in the future, or cut them loose.

 

[Stryder50]

Text of the thread on that other 'history forum' where I engaged verbotten "nationalism", "politics", and "ignoring moderator warnings";
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jun 15, 2021

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• #6

I may be jumping off the deep end here, but the following quote from another thread, even if it was closed, is relevant to the topic, IMO. Overall is the subject of covid and responses to deal with it and I think perspective is essential here. We need to take the basic numebers in a perspective, such as via percentages to get a better handle on the scope of the topic/issue, hence a start with an except~copy-paste of something presented to date. ;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You mean these numbers?

Globally, as of 4:00pm CEST, 10 June 2021, there have been 174,061,995 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,758,560 deaths

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard
World Health Organization Coronavirus disease situation dashboard presents official daily counts of COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide, along with vaccination rates and other vaccination data, while providing a hub to other resources. Interactive tools, including maps, epidemic curves and other...

covid19.who.int
By comparison, the seasonal flu:


Hospitalization and death occur mainly among high risk groups. Worldwide, these annual epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness, and about 290 000 to 650 000 respiratory deaths.

Influenza (Seasonal)
WHO fact sheet on influenza: includes key facts, definition, symptoms, transmission, seasonal epidemics, effects, prevention, WHO response.

www.who.int

No, Covid is not the plague in terms of morbidity, but it is a dangerous disease that has been spreading uncontrollably and has already killed millions. And it matters not if these are kids, teens or obese people, if the disease seriously threatens a fraction of the society it threatens society as a whole. The distinction between several groups is useful in terms of risk assessment, medical prevention and preventive measures, but very misleading when used to assess the overall severity of the pandemic and its medical danger to societies.

Willempie said:
This is utterly ridiculous. You can ban me as well. He provided numbers and his own experience.

What is utterly ridiculous is your failure to comprehend that this is a situation allowing no room for insensitive interpretations that attempt to underestimate the danger Covid represents to societies. And because this is a highly charged issue from a political but also from a humanitarian perspective, such attempts should be kept out of the discussions here.
....

Coronavirus question​

As Willemple points out already (thanks!), it matters the same as when one contracts the annual flu or the common cold. If one has other issues reducing their healthiness, the effects of the flu or cold will be worse and may combine with those other unhealthy issues to have greater effect in...
..................................

So let's put those numbers in a perspective that shows the percentages ....

Where "seasonal flu" produced the low end of @ 290,000 deaths versus either 3 or 5 million "severe cases"*; we are looking at either;
Morbidity(death) rate of either 0.097 or 0.058 %

Where "seasonal flu" produced the higher end of @ 650,000 deaths versus either the 3 0r 5 million "severe cases"; we are looking at either;
Morbidity(death) rate of either 0.22 or 0.13 %

For COVID-19, with a global case rate of 174,06,995 versus deaths of 3,758,560; doing some rounding up of 4 vs 174; we get a morbidity (death) rate of;
0.023

First, please correct me if my math is (significantly)wrong. Second, note that I find percentages a more accurate way to gauge something than the absolute numbers, which can be mis-understood, mis-perceived.

Anyway; based on these numbers and percentages, it would seem that the "seasonal flu" is about 3 to 10+ times as worse as COVID!

So all I'm asking for is the sort of objective, factual, and accurate perspective one should expect from a "history" focused forum/message board.

MEANWHILE; Why isn't CCP-China being held to account for and pay for the harm they have done to the rest of the globe?!

Increasingly, evidence is showing they (CCP-China) knew of this disease~potential pandemic as far back as October-November of 2019; sat on the growing danger until after allowing the hinreds of thousands of peopel to travel not only within China but from and to the rest of the World for their "New Year's Celebrations" and only after did they sparingly and partially admit to the disease and it's genome; so while does CCP-China get an excuse and free-ride on responsibility here ??? !!!

If it were up to me, the guv'mint of CCP-China would be subject to huge compensations to the nations and persons affected by the disease/pandemic they unleashed upon the world and hit with the respecfult "bills to pay" as consequence of their non-friendly 'fellow nation' actions upon the world community. !!!

Yet so many (usual suspects) want to let CCP-China off the hook and blame any and all others whom were down-wind of CCP-China's crimes against humanity.

Am I the only one whom sometimes feel likel I'm banging my head against the wall while the inmates of the asylum rambler on in oblivion to reality ??? !!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hmmm ??? !!!

 

[Stryder50]

Once again;
"You have been banned. Your ban will be lifted on Jul 25, 2021 at 4:00 PM. "

Looks like another subjective response to 'stepping on toes' and "hurting someone's personal feelings' again.
So much for objectively looking at History on the internet ....

 

[Stryder50]

So, ... come Sunday the 25th, it was bumped to Monday the 26th.

Come Monday the 26th it was bumped to;

Tuesday, 27th, and then: "You have been banned. Your ban will be lifted on Oct 27, 2021 at 4:00 PM. "

It's now 7:38PM local time and still banned and blocked. Wondering what next expression of bi-polarity will be. ???

 

[Stryder50]

Got my quote copies mixed.
Originally it was July 27, now it's three months away in Oct.

 

[Stryder50]

BUMP!

 

[MisterBeale]

Promise me if I ever have this much Stockholm Syndrome toward USMB, you'll kick me in the ass?

True, the level of conversation on this site is pretty low brow. . . but then, you aren't going to be harassed, censored, banned, etc., for having your own POV.

The worst that will happen is no one takes you seriously, or they just troll you. If folks do this to you, chances are, you hit hard at someone's insecurity.

The rules here are pretty minimal, and they don't penalize for not being PC.

If folks don't engage with intelligent conversation?

. . . then you are left with three choices, ignore them, troll right back, or find a different forum. I have seen many intelligent members go elsewhere because they believe the moderation here was either TOO LOOSE, or too biased.


What are you going to do?