Greetings

[GraphicW]

I have been in the online Cavy Community for about seven years, but most of you likely do not know me even though I run one of largest cavy forums on the web. Some of you old timers and the owner and moderator team on this site more than likely know me though. I have been rather low profile over the last few years and usually only lurked and or participated in the background. I have not participated in any cavy forums outside of my own since mid 2001 and did not publicly participate in my own forum much after 2002.

I have turned over a new leaf though and will be back out in view once again after being a recluse for so long. Life is not much fun sitting in the shadows. I may even get back into the Cavy hobby after having been out of it since January of 2001. Yep you heard me right, I have not owned the little critters since 2001. Bet that surprises most of you that I continued to run one of the larger cavy forums while no longer being active in the hobby.

Lets throw out a little about myself. I live in the Charleston, WV area. My interests are computers, website operation and nutrition/fitness. I also enjoy travel, movies, shopping, home improvement and just having a good time in general. I work in a jail as a correctional officer and spend my days inmates. This job educates you in the area of street knowledge. Speaking of streets, I have seen the streets of Baghdad, both the good and the bad (unfortunately more bad than good because of the way Bush is managing matters).

Speaking of Bush, I used to be an avid supporter of him. After six of him power though, civil rights have been eroded considerably, government expenditure is through the roof and our coutry is now a bananna republic with very few manufacturing jobs. We are a retail nation now with Wal-mart as the top employer. Go figure on that!

That's all I have for now. You guys will be seeing me around from time to time.

[stipma]

Hey Graphic,

Nice to see you.

[CavySpirit]

Welcome Brion.

Welcome back to the world of cavies. The rescue business continues unabated since you've been gone from cavies. Just got a panic call tonight from a woman who needs to rehome a litter of 8, would have been 10, but two were still-born. The tired new Mom and healthy babies were found on her property along with an adult boar. Two others could not be caught and are presumed dead. Of course, we are full and can't take them. They will likely be going to a kill-shelter.

Nice to hear you are starting to lean a little more to the left, although personally I wouldn't want to have that first-hand experience. We do appreciate your military service.

Most of our members here wouldn't refer to owning pet cavies as a hobby, so I assume you are talking about 'the hobby' the way breeders and showers talk about 'the hobby.' I'm wondering about your new leaf and what that's all about. Care to share?

I must admit, I'm curious about your timing, though. One of my moderators gets banned on your forum, the thread is removed (I have a copy) and within the hour you decide to join along with the moderator who probably banned her. So, I'm assuming that you all have decided to come over here to give us a run for our money on the issues--which is really great! I promise we won't ban you--that is unless you break one of our rules, which are pretty clearly stated and pretty easy to follow for anyone with average smarts.

So, welcome to our world! Looking forward to potentially debating the issues. As you know, I have gone out of my way to avoid forum/board wars. I still have no desire for such. Maybe we'll see you in our Kitchen?! There has only been one person who has posted here in the somewhat pro-breeder camp who has managed to carry on an intelligent debate over time. And even she in the end resorted to petty, discriminatory name-calling. Oh well.

Look forward to hearing more from you on the front lines!

[CavySpirit]

Wow, that was fast. You didn't waste any time. Guess I'm good at calling it. I'm compiling my nice welcome message and you are already stirring it up in the Kitchen!

Now that the strategy is committed, how about re-opening the thread that got removed on the Compendium?

[GraphicW]

No problem at all Teresa. I will replace your message though I did not pull it down. I had not issue with it and actually do not know which of my mods took it down as nobody owned up to it. I have some "cooking" to do in the kitchen. I need to get back to that before I get cinged.

[CavySpirit]

Thank you. I know your mod pulled it. I would also appreciate it if you would reinstate Susan. And your mods seem to be as ban happy as they used to be on Cavies Galore (who knows what they do there now). Very discouraging for a 'let's all get along' place. Let's all get along as long as we all think the same way.

[GraphicW]

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

Nice to hear you are starting to lean a little more to the left, although personally I wouldn't want to have that first-hand experience. We do appreciate your military service.

Seeing it first-hand is FAR different than seeing it on TV. I agree with Saddam being removed, but I do not agree with the way things are being done. I also look at our situation here at home, the patriot act specifically as well as the sorry condition of our economy.

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

Most of our members here wouldn't refer to owning pet cavies as a hobby, so I assume you are talking about 'the hobby' the way breeders and showers talk about 'the hobby.' I'm wondering about your new leaf and what that's all about. Care to share?

Of course I will share. Keep in mind that I am not and never have been a breeder myself. I simply support responsible owners' rights to breed if they desire. While large Cavy populations may be a problem in your area, they are not in this area. The only Pet Store in this area that consistently stocks Guinea Pigs in this area is Petsmart at a price of $35.00 per Guinea Pig. Petsmart buys from mills, the smaller local stores depend on local breeders for their supply as well as rescuing from owners that can longer care for their Cavies. One of my friends was deployed to Iraq before I was in 2003. It was on short notice and he had to get rid of his male Guinea Pig. I took it off his hands for a few days, but I knew I was going to get called up soon as well, so I needed to get the cavy rehomed quick. I drove to the pet store and they took it cage and all. Before I even walked out the door, another customer had actually already decided to give him a home. She said she had another male at home that needed a friend while she was away.

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

I must admit, I'm curious about your timing, though. One of my moderators gets banned on your forum, the thread is removed (I have a copy) and within the hour you decide to join along with the moderator who probably banned her. So, I'm assuming that you all have decided to come over here to give us a run for our money on the issues--which is really great! I promise we won't ban you--that is unless you break one of our rules, which are pretty clearly stated and pretty easy to follow for anyone with average smarts.

Actually, the current events have nothing to with my decision to come out from under the proverbial rock. I always had plans of signing up here, it's just the events of tonight made me decide to go on ahead and get it done with. Of course I am here on legitimate premises and certainly not as a troll. You know enough about me to know that I have given real information here. We have spoken on the phone in the past and we were both friend of Carolyn Mullins of cavies.com back during the forum war with Cavies Galore so you know all about my ways. That's why you knew I was heading in the kitchen to do a little baking. Good call indeed. Of course I will not break any rules. I do after all have more respect for you than that and you have certainly not broken any rules on my site.

Lets discuss the banning of your moderator. You are right once again in that I did not ban her. I did however see the posts that resulted in her banning. The did seem rather rude a mean spirited in the way they were written, but you know how things can be misconstrued on a forum. It is after all a limited form of communication with no way of seeing body language and hearing tone and inflection.

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

So, welcome to our world! Looking forward to potentially debating the issues. As you know, I have gone out of my way to avoid forum/board wars. I still have no desire for such. Maybe we'll see you in our Kitchen?! There has only been one person who has posted here in the somewhat pro-breeder camp who has managed to carry on an intelligent debate over time. And even she in the end resorted to petty, discriminatory name-calling. Oh well.

As I said before, you already knew I was on my way to the kitchen. There may be some civil debates of issues in the near future, but I do not anticipate a forum war. I can assure you that neither myself nor any of my team will resort to name-calling. You and I have certainly had our share of debates in the past, but we also agreed to disagree and for the most part have not had any problems. Interesting times lie ahead for sure though.

Thank you for the welcome!

[CavySpirit]

Actually, the current events have nothing to with my decision to come out from under the proverbial rock. I always had plans of signing up here, it's just the events of tonight made me decide to go on ahead and get it done with. Of course I am here on legitimate premises and certainly not as a troll. You know enough about me to know that I have given real information here.

Yes, I definitely agree that all of the info you've posted has been accurate. Just you and your mod coming here right after the other situation was suspect.

I guess, from multiple statements you've made, I would make sure that you are very aware of what your moderators are doing and how your forum is being represented. While I love my moderators dearly, I would not abdicate the leadership role of this forum. I stand by them and their actions. We work together and we share all information about our collective activities. I just assumed that other forum administrators took a similar leadership role.

The did seem rather rude a mean spirited in the way they were written,...

Seeming rude is a bannable offense? I thought the responses of your moderator seemed rude and mean-spirited. So? It's the bias of the forum. You don't like our position. We don't like yours. We let you say whatever you want. I assume you can take the heat of the responses. I expect the same treatment. Honestly, the ONLY reason I'm not banned from your forum is because I know better than to post on the issues/threads that matter. I stick to my innocuous posts about cages. That's kept me out of trouble with your moderators. Not that I haven't wanted to post. I don't dare. I'm not a smiley face kind of poster. I guarantee I'd also come off as rude to some people.

I'm not going to take up debating the breeder issues here. And I need to get to bed. I should have been working on a presentation for work tomorrow. Oh well....

[GraphicW]

I must admit I have not been paying full attention to what goes on in my forums. The admins and mods have ran on auto-pilot more or less for the last four years. I will review the situation myself and dicuss it with my moderators. The moderator that did the banning may even speak their piece here.

I plan to also be more involved with my forum in the future. I have more or less left it be and I am sure you likely noticed that.

[MrsHauler]

Susan was given only a 72 hour vacation from the forum, she will be able to reaccess the boards on the 26th when we will then re-evaluate her behaviour and additude towards other members including staff.

[VoodooJoint]

Welcome Graphic. Good to see you around.

Originally Posted by MrsHauler

Susan was given only a 72 hour vacation from the forum, she will be able to reaccess the boards on the 26th when we will then re-evaluate her behaviour and additude towards other members including staff.

Which mod or admin are you? I'd like to put a name with you so I know who is speaking. Welcome by the way.

[CavySpirit]

Brion, for not wanting to start board wars, this post is very out of line: The Cavy Compendium Forums - View Single Post - Please be advised.

Clearly Purrkitty7 is talking about my site. The day this site is run at a profit will be a thing of joy. I have so much red ink to recover as a direct result of irresponsible breeders it's not even funny.

Also, if your staff are going to post stuff like this as an attack on our forum (you don't need to name names, we all know this is in reference to cavycages.com)

To set the record straight, we do not promote irresponsible breeding, we do believe in rescue, and all our staff do not breed,...

then you are leaving yourself wide open for us to really set the record straight. This is what I mean about forum wars.

I didn't know your Dad or Mom ran the site!

My son created this site because he wanted to help pet owners, and he pays to keep this site running, ...

I thought it was your site and forum. Hmmm. You are user number 1. Purrkitty7 is user number 48. I know there was some weird history with the site that I don't remember. Now I'm curious as to who is really running the show over there.

MrsHauler, why do you need to hide behind a new identity? Brion didn't. Stipma says she didn't, although I don't know why she felt the need to reregister when she is an active member here. So, who are you on CC?

Also, we have published guidelines when it comes to bannings and such. AND our members generally receive three warnings prior to banning (or vacation!). We keep track of all notifications of warnings. When we ban someone, we now post the information publicly, so that our membership and the public can see that we are not being capricious. And we generally leave up the threads that are in contention. You won't see us remove threads or posts that are pro-breeding or in hot debate.

Yes, everyone gets to run their forums and sites the way they see fit. For all the talk about having a happy place where all opinions count, I'd rather have a bit more of an open democracy and a place run with honesty rather than a seemingly happy place, but only when you tow the party line and freedom of expression is squelched.

So rather than sweeping generalizations, I'm referencing an exact thread, posted by an administrator.

Brion, most of us here believe strongly in animal welfare issues. To have your administrator dismiss us as fanatics is in fact a blanket personal attack on all of us--the one thing that you say you don't abide.

[stipma]

I find it interesting that you accuse us of "everyone can get along as long as we think the same way". That's exactly what I observe over here. There have already been 'warnings' that we are not to discuss breeding here as it is an anti-breeding forum. Uh-huh.

[Susan9608]

How-to breeding discussions are not allowed; as an anti-breeding forum, we don't encourage the production of more and more animals when there are already too many as it is.

Discussing the pros and cons of breeding is - and has always been - allowed here.

[stipma]

Fair enough. I don't think anyone was going to start talking about how to breed anyway.