The Hoboken Cafe 

It seems that the person running this board monitors every posting and deletes those messages which are contrary/opposing to his views.

For example, I had posted a message in reply to bikehack's posting on the Hoboken Music board in which I stated I disliked Liberty's on 14th St. and his promoting this club on the message board. Now I see that my message is gone. Please note, my message was not abusive, insulting, rude, or derogatory to others.

I conclude by saying that there is no freedom of opinions on this message board. Big brother is watching.

Yes, I deleted that post because it was very rude to bikehack. He happens to be a friend of mine and we had our first outing at the Liberty bar and had a fun time.

I had hoped to make this clear in the introduction but this site has only one purpose which is to be a place to make new friends. It's not a public bathroom wall and All it takes is one person to start provoking people to start a whole flame fest. I have seen this happen when there is no moderation. A long time ago I was on a newsgroup where the subject was about natural healing. This is about as pacifist a crowd you can get, but there was one guy who destroyed the whole newsgroup by intentially provoking people and everyone just got caught up in a whole flame war. This was actually the time I made my first community site and a bunch of people started using it just because it was protected against people like this.

Yes, I want this to be a warm fuzzy place. I know there are lots of problems with Hoboken, but I didn't make this site to be a bitch zone, and that means stopping the sparks before they turn into bonfires.

If you don't like Liberties and want to tell everyone that you don't like it that's fine. However, there is no reason to make it personal. Yes, bikehack, was obviuosly plugging his event, and it was pretty transparent, but he is also an active user of the site and it was harmless. Matteo, I really wish you would just let go of your anger and join us as friends. You get a whole new perspective on people when you actually get to know them.

-Mike

Mike,

My message to bikehack was absolutely not rude. I just stated that I didn't like Liberty's and his advertising/plugging that place here. That's all.

If you deleted my message because you felt it was "very rude to bikehack" then may you please delete your message addressed to me. I feel your response is rude to me.

I'm here to make friends, and raise interesting topics of discussion where a free flow of ideas and opinions are exchanged. I have no intention to make this a "bitch zone," although if we disagree with someone, we should have the right to state so in a civilized manner, which I did.

Please, Mike, don't let favoritism to your buddies quell another's freedom of speech.

Thanks! :-)

Matteo,

I'm sorry that my post came off as being rude. That was not my intention. This does, however, underscore how easy it is to misinterpret someone's words. When there are only words, without facial expressions or inflections it is very easy to take a statement the wrong way. This is how many flame wars start and what I'm trying to avoid.

I am glad that you are looking to make new friends and look foward to reading your posts. Please understand, however, that this is not a town hall, but my own private place which is moderated. This means that I reserve the right to delete any post. It's the only way to prevent flame wars and if it were not moderated, then eventually, sooner or later the flamming would start, be it intentional or not. I have just had such a bad experience with that in the past and the hatred that resulted from it turns my stomach. This is why I am so overprotective of this site. I basicly gave up having a life for two years making it in my spare time, so its almost like a child.

I hope you can understand where I am comming from. I'm not trying to oppress anyone, I just want to keep this a warm and friendly place as that is what it is intended to be.

-Mike

Sorry for jumping in on this issue....I have experienced stuff like this on other message boards that I'm familiar with. Flame wars and misunderstandings seem to happen so easily so I can completely understand where Mike is coming from. I think there is a very free flow of expression and information here for the most part and I'm happy this board has come into existance. Perhaps before you deleted the post Mike you could have e-mailed matteo privately to warn him and he could have e-mailed you back to discuss the issue without bringing it into the public forum - anyway just a suggestion.

I can't take it!!!! The Drama!

Now we shall hold hands and sing "Kum Ba Ya." Either that or a group hug.

UGH! I'm here to make friends just like 90% of the people, but I just had to respond to this. This message in question didn't seem insulting or anything. I understand how flame wars start, but on the other hand, if this place becomes a "warm fuzzy" place, how interesting would that be? We are all people and we all don't agree on all things all the time. That's what makes life interesting. This breeds discussion. Why can't the admin wait and see what happens? Maybe this would have brought up an interesting thread on advertising, etc. on this forum? If the thread started to a flame war, then I could see killing it, but killing it because of personal issues is just plain wrong.

Just my $.02

O.K. It looks like I was jumping the gun. Your view seems to be shared by many so we will try it and see how it goes.

-Mike

this is bikehack and I have to agree. I replied to matteo's posting in a similar manner and it too was deleted. Whats going on mike?

I'd like to be absolutely clear that I take personal umbrage at anyone who jumps guns, gums, gulls, gummy Bears, gods, gaits, gays, go-go girls, (actually jumping them is OK), gibbles, glubs and googoos. So be warned, if anyone advertises their onions or otherwise in a manner I deem a fence, then I'll have to picket. Hmm, am I getting into a pell-mell?
luv Jonathan

I dont think the post was put back up. Or if it was, it was taken down and I missed it. Anyone know the real story?

And for the record, I make zero, 0, nix, nada, nothing from Weds nights at libertys. My intent was to invite everyone down to take part and get to know others. I essentially put the event together with others to help build a musical community and have no hidden agenda.

Bikehack,

I have not seen the post you are refering to and there is no sign of it in the database. Are you sure you did not click the "preview" button and thought you posted it?

Actually, I was impressed that you did not respond to the post and chose to ignore it. In any case, if it was succesfully posted, it would be in the db, so something happened so that it never got up in the first place.

-Mike