| Username |
Post |
| san |
Posted
on 17-Mar-02 11:23 PM
Sajha.com has evolved through experimentations in building a web community. Sajha.com is here to help Nepalese people from all over the world congregate and exchange ideas and fill a void that might be created from being away from Nepal. Sajha.com is designed to bring together Nepali Communities. Having said that, I will attempt to answer the questions about democracy that has been raised here by very few people, especially Mr. Mildly Retarded Kancha. To put it in straightforward and clear words, sajha.com does not support personal bantering using fowl words. Maybe you did not understand my previous post where I referred clearly to an example where someone directly cursed at someone else just because they disagreed with ideas. Bottom line is sajha.com is not going to support foul language directed at another poster. This is because sajha.com respects each poster who spends his/her valuable time to come to the site to gain some insight, share some ideas, and be a part of a team. Sajha.com will attempt to have these posters protected from personal abuse by someone who shows disrespect towards sajha.com poster by using vulgar foul words directed at the posters. Democracy does not mean you can go out in the street and shooting down people. Similarly in this site, you cannot go and badmouth other posters. In a democracy, you have to respect other's right to live a safe and healthy life. Here also, you will have to respect other's right to not be personally attacked by derogatories. Which democracy are you referring to when you compare sajha.com to an autocracy? Which democracy allows it's citizen's to shoot down other citizens? For an example, look at the democracy in the US. Look at it's war against terror. Democracy does not mean you can blow up buildings with people. It's people who make a democracy; and the democracy will attempt to protect it's people and get rid of terrorists who pose harm to it's people. Again, please note that IDEAS are welcome here. If you have pornographic ideas, do feel free to post in the SEX usergroup. There is no problem there. BUT, as soon as you step in the boundary where you are personally abusing a poster of sajha.com there is a BIG problem. You can attack the idea as much as you want but as soon as you start throwing personal derogatories at a poster, then sajha.com will consider taking steps to stop you. I hope this answers your question posted in three different threads MRK. You can write to me directly at san1@ix.netcom.com if you have further questions. Regards
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 12:30 AM
San, As a supporter of sajha.com and your personal well-wisher, here is my unsolicited advice: You own this site. You did all the technical stuff here. You have paid for this out of your own pocket for a long time, though some of us have started to help you on that front of late. Based on these three undisputable facts, I think you should have the self-confidence and you should be honest and say upfront in public here: "Guys, this is my site for the benefit of Nepali communities. But there are certain things I do not like here, and if my requests to some of you stop posting certain kind of postings go unheeded , then I am sorry that I'll have no choice but to throw you out altogether. Hope you understand. " That would be so straightforward, honest and clear. I, for one, would buy such a straightforward declaration from you in an instant, and live happily ever after, so to speak. That is because, intellectually, your rights as the owner of this site IS greater here than someone else's rights to post "disgusting" or "not so disgusting" stuff for all to read. It's as simple as that. So, why not assert your right outright, and let the chips fall where they may? That said, where I have serious intellectual problems with is when you dress up your reasonings with all these spinelessly vague community standards ko stuff (who decides what these are) and then try to lump them with unconvincing arguments re: democracy and all that. What's more, such reasoning also sends signals that you, in your obvious good intentions, somehow do not trust the COLLECTIVE judgment, maturity and the realistic RESILIENCE of the sajha community to take jhoor postings in its stride. That is why, as your supporter and fan, it greatly paines me to say stuff like that only makes you look dishonest, arbitrary, phoney and intellectually muddled. I know you personally, and I know quite well that you are not dishonest, arbitrary, phoney and intellectually muddled, That is why I would suggest that you NOT fall into these aviodable verbal traps by evoking the lofty standards of community and so on, when, in truth, let's face it, you and you alone own and maintain this site for others to use and NOT abuse (according to your sensibilities). Keep up the great work. oohi among the number-one supporters of sajha.com ashu ktm,nepal
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| NK |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 01:07 PM
Heeeere we go again! Ladies and Gentlemen, the jury the peers!Ashu telling San Pradhan, how he should think, how he should phrase what he has been thinking and how he should present his ideas so that Ashu can sleep well tonight and other nights as well. San, Before he starts calling your thinking muddled, you’d better listen to Ashu. Oh, Wait a minute. Actually he has already said that, so ok, that is no issue now, whew….. Welcome to the club of muddled thinkers, sake! Anyone? There is nothing wrong, as a matter of a laudable act that the webmaster, the administrator, and the proprietor, San Pradhan, to talk about democracy, community standard, and accountability. We can go on discussing about what comprises the community, what is considered a Good Behavior, what is Good, what did Plato said on that and what was his guru Socrates stance on this, who defines what Disgust is, what is the Ultimate Reason, what is the Ultimate itself till the end of the time and we will still be discussing. The posters have identified what is unacceptable in the name of Freedom of Speech, i.e. racial slur, sexist smut, personal attack dressing up as an “argument” to name a few and San Pradhan being the communal(responsible) fellow and who can think independently, decided/decides “yes, as a matter of fact, I do know what is unacceptable behavior when I see on,.” he deletes those smuts but let the posters post with a warning. Is something wrong with that? You (readers) tell me! The inception of this site come about when the Greater Boston Nepali Community wanted a united voice, a place where people can come and find out what is going on and yes, to exchange ideas. The idea of community, a sense of community, a responsible community gave birth to this site. People approached San Pradhan and he agreed to devote his time. San Pradhan did not woke up one day and said, “Hey, I wanna have a site, which should be according to my need. People can post what I , Sand Pradhan thinks is Good. And I , San Pradhan will reward these posters by ALLOWING THEM TO POST.” He knows very well and should be the case that he is a social being and he is an instrument to serve the community, and serve well. The smut and slurs don’t count as a normal societal behaviour. Society has a place for those individuals who shows socially, sexually deviant behavior. Prison in a sever case, medication , therapy, bans in other salvable case. For the nth time the statue of Freedom of Speech does not extend to people whose sole purpose is to degrade, defame, destruct be it is a private property or a community property, other people’s reputation. We hear there was a brain storming session in Kathmandu how to make this a viable source of information, entertainment, infotainment. Well, I would say first let’s take care of these deviant behavior of a handful individuals. Then we can move on. People who have been coming to this site might have noticed the cycle. There is a sense of calmness, fun, educational postings then comes postings from people like ‘Homophobic’ and followed by a big racket: shouting it down, people saying they are enjoying, people defending their “rights” people talking about society, civility, and people talking about, what they think a brahma astra, the “FREEDOM OF SPEECH” against the censorship. The proponents of Freedom of Speech At Any Cost think they finally nailed those dimwits down. “Ha! You know nothing about democracy.” They forget this idea of democracy the way define is nowhere near the architect of US constitution had in mind. That is another posting if I have to. Everybody copied US Constitution. From UN’s character of human rights (the whole foundation of UN, mind you) to Japan, South Africa and now to Nepal. But as everything else, when this great idea/ideal comes to the hands of my fellow countrymen, it is twisted, battered and deformed. They want to make this a weapon to propagate their filth. I know because I have read postings of some posters saying that time to time these people (you know who I am talking about) provide entertainment to a dull environment so they should be allowed to post. I guess people go to peep show to be entertained. Then again for that you have to go to a designated place. So, why should Sajha.com provide this kind of entertainment? This is a community property. San wants this way. He does not want this site to be “his” own property. As Ashu likes him to declare. San says it is a communal property and we should yes should, take his words for it. Or maybe some of you argue that “no he should declare this is h is property, no he cannot” and so on and totally derail the issue at hand: To wipe out/censor smuts. My only wish is that he has some sort of board of directors to ensure it remains a community property him being in charge. So San, my friend (yes he has tons of friends. At least I consider him to be my friend whether he reciprocates or not) go ahead and talk about democracy, rights, responsibility and manage this site according to those principals. I don’t want to see you pushed into the corner and declare something you obviously don’t want to. [and ashu, i am not attacking you as a person but merely your thoughts]
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 01:47 PM
NK, I should have known. My using the word "muddled" gets some people here quite excited. But that's all right. Let us not forget that this site is SUPPLY-driven. Meaning? People supply their postings here voluntarily. No one demands that so and so post such and such here. It's the SUPPLIERS who make this site what this is: lively, vibrant, noisy and pulsating with all kinds of ideas. Some of these suppliers are good; some not so good. Some are likable; some are not. Some take neutral stands; some take offensive stands. And so on and on. (One of my nightmares is that like star investment -bankers or star professors or star comediens, some of these good suppliers will open up their shop (i.e. Web sites), and slowly attract all their 'clients' there. This may not happen, but it does, then there will be precious little reason to visit sajha.com!) In other words, DIVERSE people here, like in the REAL world, like in Nepal. And that's great. Let's learn to live with it. And let's have more self-confidence, shall we? I mean, it's NOT the end of the world if some anonymos idiot, for instance, writes here that Ashutosh Tiwari is a chor or that NK is a khattam person and so on and on. Who cares about such garbage anyway except other idiots who want to believe everything they hear? Let them!! Sure, learning to live with it all -- the good and the bad -- does NOT mean we should accept the bad quietly. It means learning HOW to defeat the bad through debates and discussions and through an OPEN exchange of ideas and NOT by one-standard-fits-all sort of paternalistic approach. As a visitor, I'm saying that I'd be comfortable if San used "private property -- keep off the bad" argument, because -- quite bluntly -- that's what this is: a PRIVATELY-owned site with a very PUBLIC face, driven by volunteer visitors' intellectual and not-so-intellectual SUPPLIES. oohi being a realist, and listening to good old Bacchu Kailash ashu ktm,nepal
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| Nepe |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 02:01 PM
I disagree with Ashu and agree with NK. Ashu wrote: >That is why I would suggest that you NOT fall into these >aviodable verbal traps by evoking the lofty standards of >community and so on, when, in truth, let's face it, you >and you alone own and maintain this site for others to >use and NOT abuse (according to your sensibilities). I think there are/should be community standards. It is definable, codifiable and can be put in a single brief sentence. It is not a trap for San, it is a trap for those postings which the overwhelming majority of us do not want to see. San owns Sajha TECHNICALLY but not TOTALLY. I am betting San agrees on this. It is still a community site. Therefore talking about democracy and freedom of expression is relevant. NK wrote: >This is a community property. San wants this way. He >does not want this site to be "his" own property. As Ashu >likes him to declare. San says it is a communal property >and we should yes should, take his words for it. Or maybe >some of you argue that "no he should declare this is h is >property, no he cannot" and so on and totally derail the >issue at hand: To wipe out/censor smuts. My only wish >is that he has some sort of board of directors to ensure >it remains a community property him being in charge. I totally agree. In a separate thread I too was proposing for a multi-member board to maintain this site. I think it is time to talk about it. We have a great webmaster, San. It’s high time to go one step further with his support and with our support. Nepe
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| 13-thum |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 03:44 PM
Some Questions? How is GBNC connected to this site? Is this private property of San or he is managing this site for GBNC? What is the role of GBNC in this site? Who makes the final decision regarding the site? Who bears the financial expenses of this site? Who will get the benefit if this site becomes a big hit and attaracts a lot of adversitement? Comment: Discussion group is the heart, soul and body of this site. Let us give freedom to the posters and delete the posting only in extreme cases. I agree with Ashu that attack to anonymous person by a anonymous does not matter that much. San's work is commendable. Let us give him the respect he deserves. Attacking San is different then attacking some anonymous person. It really matters. 13-thum
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 04:05 PM
Should San say 'this is my site, so I decide what is to be posted?' I don't think so. Most of the ideals of Sajha became pronounced after a lot of discussions here. San deleted a lot of postings. In some cases, posters themselves requested to delete some postings. In other cases, those attacked and offended requested. The criteria for deleting postings have been some sort of evolutionary. They are not written, so what, so is the constitution of UK. Has this practice been harmful ? No. Did it undermine the commitment of this site towards democratic ideals? No. Did it undermine the commitment of this site for intercaste harmony and equal right to all genders? No. Did this site became more vibrant because of such web patrolling? You bet. Should San necessarily personalize this site to shoo away the deviant posters? I don't think so. Except for some lunatics, most of the posters here are promising, and even some of those who wrongly posted some inappropriate message have shown willingness to rectify themselves.This is a good sign, a sign of maturing community. Yet, this site needs some kind of patrolling, against some 'obvious' inappropriate contents. Mainly, this site ,given its wide access, shouldn't be a vehicle to convey malicious, personal attacks against a respected member of Nepali community. As king Birendra used to repeat in his 'deshbashiko naam maa sambodhan' frequently:"When we use our right, we should be careful not to violate rights of others...".
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| naresh_karki |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 04:49 PM
I want to repeat questions raised by 13 thum. How is GBNC connected to this site? Is this private property of San or he is managing this site for GBNC? What is the role of GBNC in this site? Who makes the final decision regarding the site? Who bears the financial expenses of this site? Who will get the benefit if this site becomes a big hit and attaracts a lot of adversitement? PLUS What is motive of Mr. San to connect this site to GBNC? Is there any future business plan? What if Mr. San sell this site to 3rd party after making this popular. Is there anyone who will adress these concerns? Naresh Karki Baltimore
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| mildly retarded kancha |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 06:56 PM
Dear San, This is the final time I am gonna write about my postings. As I have said time and again that I made a human mistake that the admin power was being abused so I snapped and said things in the board which are demeaning to others, I hope you get my point. Have you ever noticed after the initial thing I have used any bad language and stuff. NOOOOOO. NOw the question on Democracy. I have only said I believe in freedom of speech and so on. Thats all. I am not here to tell you what to do. But consider the following that might be helpful again this is only my opinion. just make rules on posting, very simple have a section on main menu on code of conduct. I never wanted to post any porn in the main board or so on, coz there is already a porn site in the users group. I have even seen one topic being as login/ password protected. I think thats really neat. So the only problem I see is the main bulletin board and all you have to do is tell in a disclaimer that not to use derogatory language or personal attacks. IT should solve the problem and if people still do that then ofcourse you can ban them and you as an admin have the right to do so. I will support that, but not the action of banning people just because their opinion are different from that of other users. I have used one bad judgement in one of my posting and we are having hell of a discusion again I personally think thats a good thing as long as there are conversation its good. I hope I have answered all your questions in my other posting. I like this forum I think this brings people to talk about things they feel imp or not so imp. I think you are doing a great job. Thanks San, With my minimum wages I am unable to contribute monitory help at this time but I can superzize your order at Mcdonalds for free. J/K MRK
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| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:27 PM
This is getting interesting. There's freedom of speech on the one hand, and the "rights" of san to defend his property on the other. I don't think there's any constitution in the world that barrs people from defending their property from unwanted elements. As far as I know, San owns this site, and he has every rights to dedfend his property. Now, to all you freedom of speech/expression lovers, here's an anology: You write a letter to the NY TIMES or The Washington Post or Boston Globe, do you think they will publish anything that you write? No. Does this mean the US doesn't have freedom of speech? No. So, San is like the editor/owner of his site, if he decides to barr/not to publish somebody's view(s), then he has every rights to do so. Another analogy: You are walking down New Road (naya sadak in Kathmandu) and you come across a guy/girl with a hairstyle/dressup which in your view is indecent, but can you do anything? No. Because, he/she has the rights tow alk on the street, but you can certainly barr that person from entering your home, because its your property! NK and Biswo, and ashu, do you want trouble-makers or potential trouble makers in your property? The answer will be NO.What would you do if they show up at your home? First you try to convince them, if they don't listen to you, you call the cops.. or just kick them out of the house. Or, would you let them stay? And if I am right, GBNC is merely a client. This is San's site and he can use his best judgement re: what shoud be posted, deleted, who should be banned and other things. What community standards are you guys talking about? It is NOT Khula-Manch. It is San's property (unless you guys are paying to run this site out of your own pocket).. Who decides community standards anyways?I wouldn't mind someone using profane language while walking on the street but i wouldn't like them at my home. He/she just can't crash at my place and say things that i don't want to hear. Does this mean that I am infringing upon that person's freedom of speech? Well, may plus all that went into this posting makes it worth 100 dollars. So, this is my 100 be, maybe not. But, I do have my rights to defend my home, or do I? Trailokya What's with " 2 cents dui paisa postings" I spent 20 mins reading what you all had to say, typed for 15 mins.. that's 35 mins of my time, plus internet access cost, dollars, right here.
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| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:34 PM
Who decides community standards anyways?I wouldn't mind someone using profane language while walking on the street but i wouldn't like them at my home. He/she just can't crash at my place and say things that i don't want to hear. Does this mean that I am infringing upon that person's freedom of speech? Well, may be, maybe not. But, I do have my rights to defend my home, or do I? Trailokya What's with " 2 cents dui paisa postings" I spent 20 mins reading what you all had to say, typed for 15 mins.. that's 35 mins of my time, plus internet access cost, dollars, plus all that went into this posting makes it worth 100 dollars. So, this is my 100 right here. Trailokya
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| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:36 PM
Who decides community standards anyways?I wouldn't mind someone using profane language while walking on the street but i wouldn't like them at my home. He/she just can't crash at my place and say things that i don't want to hear. Does this mean that I am infringing upon that person's freedom of speech? Well, may be, maybe not. But, I do have my rights to defend my home, or do I? Trailokya What's with " 2 cents dui paisa postings" I spent 20 mins reading what you all had to say, typed for 15 mins.. that's 35 mins of my time, plus internet access cost, dollars, plus all that went into this posting makes it worth 100 dollars. So, this is my 100 right here. Trailokya
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| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:37 PM
Who decides community standards anyways?I wouldn't mind someone using profane language while walking on the street but i wouldn't like them at my home. He/she just can't crash at my place and say things that i don't want to hear. Does this mean that I am infringing upon that person's freedom of speech? Well, may be, maybe not. But, I do have my rights to defend my home, or do I? Trailokya What's with " 2 cents dui paisa postings" I spent 20 mins reading what you all had to say, typed for 15 mins.. that's 35 mins of my time, plus internet access cost, dollars, plus all that went into this posting makes it worth 100 dollars. So, this is my 100 right here. Trailokya
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| NK |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:46 PM
Trailokya, why so many postings. We hadheardyou the first time. Or is this just some echo thing going?
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| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 07:55 PM
dear NK, It was a posting error. I apologize to everyone for the multiple posting. And I would really appreaciate if you can post MESSAGES related to this board to this MESSAGE Board only, not send me emails (unless you want to go out ona date with me, but for that you need to let me know in advance. I am all booked for a year:-0) Trailokya
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Mar-02 08:49 PM
Biswo wrote: "Except for some lunatics, most of the posters here are promising, and even some of those who wrongly posted some inappropriate message have shown willingness to rectify themselves.This is a good sign, a sign of maturing community. Yet, this site needs some kind of patrolling, against some 'obvious' inappropriate contents." As a visitor, I'd rather that our DIVERSE posters make mistakes, realize their mistakes and then apologize and "rectify themselves". That's LEARNING from peers in an OPEN forum. What's wrong with CONTINUING with this kind of learning by allowing to post freely? But if you start with an agenda "against some 'obvious' inappropriate contents.", then you run into all kinds of problems and unwittingly give people like Naresh Karki, MRK and others UPPER-HAND in the debate, and being clever, they'll milk it to their advantage with the usual questions such as: who decides what's inappropriate, what is inappropriate content and so on and on. Why fall into that trap of defending the indefensible? If you really want to ban certain posters or remove certain threads, then, let's use the "private property" argument without any shame. At least, that will keep us honest and provided a consistent answer. Else, let's not use this bugaboo of "community standards" to remove/delete postings that are NOT to some of our likings. Our communities are so DIVERSE that for every group of people who think one way, there are others who think differently on all kinds of issues. Finally, technical stuff aside, it's the POSTERS who make this site. You start with a few good posters, and they'll attract even better posters, and the whole site benefits all the more and more. Like I said, posters -- good and bad -- are the VALUABLE resource this site has, and let's not forget that. If half a dozen regular posters migrate to another Web site from tomorrow on, sajha.com -- despite its technical stuff -- will be a poorer place. To sum up, either we declare: a) this is a private property where certain "offensive" postings will be removed. Or, b) this is a free-for-all forum where viewers' discretion is strongly advised. One can't, after all, forever sit on the fence and continue with embarrassingly vague handwringing and continue to award BETTER arguments to Naresh Karki and MRK and others. oohi ashu ktm,nepal
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 19-Mar-02 12:43 PM
Ashu: My whole point is against making this site a vehicle to wage to personal vendetta and a RatnaPark-ko-famous-bhittaa to post graphically offensive contents so as to avoid this site from becoming an eyesore to hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors. Now, compare this with this:what will a democratic (an ideally democratic) government do if someone posts a hardcore pornographic picture in that famous bhittaa of Ratna Park (which btw is mainly monopolized by our Akhile bhaai haru to write their slogan against the 'Rashtra Ghaati' Girija, and 'bhaaratiya bistaarbaad'!) Wait for the perpetrator to realize his mistake and repent publicly in Khulamanch and erase that posting (or call for that)? I rest my case here.
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| san |
Posted
on 19-Mar-02 01:18 PM
Dear Ashu, You said it. 'Like I said, posters -- good and bad -- are the VALUABLE resource this site has, and let's not forget that. If half a dozen regular posters migrate to another Web site from tomorrow on, sajha.com -- despite its technical stuff -- will be a poorer place. ' That is exactly my point. Posters and readers are the most VALUABLE RESOURCE this site has, and I do not intend to forget that. That is why I do not intend to encourage posters who call other posters 'f.ucking gay' or 'f.ucking bitch, s.uck my cock', or other personally demeaning words. With all due respect, You, personally, might have a thick skin and not care about any profanities thrown at you. But, it is presumptious of you to expect the same standards out of everyone else. Not everyone likes to hear profanities directed at them by some other poster - who does not have respect for other's right to express their ideas, and thus tries to discourage them by downright insulting them with vulgar words. Maybe you have 'hardened' because of your own personal experience, but you cannot expect everyone else to be judged by your standards. Most of the readers/posters are affected negatively by these personally directed profanities, as I have noted from some personal emails that I have received. I respect you as a very important contributor to this site and personally as well. From your point of view, you are concerned about the 'free-for-all' forum. BUT, from my point of view, I am more concerned about the COMMUNITY SITE that I have set out to create. Your points are valid from your point of view: ie. you wrote "To sum up, either we declare: a) this is a private property where certain "offensive" postings will be removed. Or, b) this is a free-for-all forum where viewers' discretion is strongly advised. " Someone else could say "To sum up, either we declare a) This is a free-for-all forum where posters are abused, thrown profanity at and where posters are not respected, and OR. b) This is a community site where posters are respected, and a standard maintained whereby writing of profanities directed towards posters are not allowed, thus creating a positive and helpful environment. To sum it up, sajha.com is a privately owned website (- I hope this answers all the quesions by 13-thum and Naresh_Karki), that seeks to provide service to Nepalese communities by providing a common (sajha) cyber space where we all share our common sajha bond with our motherland. In keeping up with the democratic tradition, I have set up a poll to see what the majority feels. Please note that unlike other polls, the final results of this poll will be monitored closely - multiple spoof votes will be disregarded according to the originating IP address and time of voting. The final tally will be published after approximately 2 weeks of voting. It's time to call for the 'COLLECTIVE judgment, maturity and the realistic RESILIENCE of the sajha community'. Regards, San
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| KhulaBichar |
Posted
on 19-Mar-02 05:40 PM
Yas Forum ka Janata Harule, Ashu ka dui kura nakinnu nai ekdam ramro yebam swasth tatha mastiska ka lagi suva hunecha: 1. "Free For All" stuffs. This motto without any restriction always defends and promotes the BAD posters. 2. "FREE MARKET ECONOMY" stuffs. Ashu needs an exile to China for one year and learn why local culture, geographic location and local conditions should dominate his Harvardian "FREE FOR ALL" and "FREE MARKET ECONOMY" policies.
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