[quote]A place for discussion of not strictly beer related topics. Please keep it civil and no discussion of race, religion, or politics.
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So why the deletion/removal of posts and threads that fall under that category?
So why the deletion/removal of posts and threads that fall under that category?
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The description says it all - non beer related topics that ARE ALSO civil, non-religion or poilitically oriented. It’s what separates this forum from many others. Not a bad thing.
So why the deletion/removal of posts and threads that fall under that category?
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So why the deletion/removal of posts and threads that fall under that category?
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I didn’t see what the posts said that were awful enough to take the thread down. While I can’t say that I’m not extremely curious what was said and who said it, my experience is that the mods here give warnings (that I know they did) and are not overly trigger happy so I am confident that they acted in the best interest of this forum.
I don’t participate in other home brewing forums but have looked at some and noticed at least one has a space to talk about politics, religion etc. Bad idea IMO. With the number of people here I bet some have views that others find repulsive. I would rather not know that about someone here.
I didn’t see what the posts said that were awful enough to take the thread down. While I can’t say that I’m not extremely curious what was said and who said it, my experience is that the mods here give warnings (that I know they did) and are not overly trigger happy so I am confident that they acted in the best interest of this forum.
I don’t participate in other home brewing forums but have looked at some and noticed at least one has a space to talk about politics, religion etc. Bad idea IMO. With the number of people here I bet some have views that others find repulsive. I would rather not know that about someone here.
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I agree, not sure what the final straw was (and don’t really care), but I know there was already one warning given earlier on in the thread.
To me, the civility and respect everyone is shown is what really separates this forum from the rest. The mods do a great job at keeping the worse parts of the internet away from this forum.
I promise not to post pictures of where I keep the bodies…
That wouldn’t bother me, we all have anger management and interpersonal issues, I just wouldn’t want to find out you disagreed with my politics because that would make you stupid and mean… ;D
Hi all -
I took the thread down.
To my knowledge, there aren’t many threads that have been removed from the AHA forum before. Those who saw how baseless and harassing some of the comments were will no doubt agree that it had no place here.
To quell anyone’s curiosity - a thread was started about revealing personal information without the consent of the individual. The person who began the thread was an active member here and will be missed. He was not banned. According to his posts, he voluntarily suspended his account.
The individual who WAS banned joined this forum simply as a means to make baseless claims against the aforementioned member. His one and only post went so far as to reveal this person’s home address, what model & color car he drives, as well as information about his family - along with several derogatory remarks. The post was quickly removed by the admins. After he was banned, he then called the AHA office to make further derogatory remarks about this individual.
I made the decision to pull the entire thread. I hope that I will not have to do that again, and I hope this clears up the curiosity.
This forum is a place for learning and sharing information about great beer, and the hobby we all love. The homebrewing community is renowned for our sense of camaraderie. Let’s all do our best to keep it that way.
Cheers,
Matt Bolling
Events & Membership Coordinator
American Homebrewers Association
matt@brewersassociation.org
That is some hardcore hostility.
He just didn’t like stir plates. 
I feel bad for ‘S. Cerevisiae’ if somebody has it out for him that much, that sounds pretty extreme.
Thanks for that info Matt, and for maintaining the standards of the forum. And Sorry to hear what Mark is going through, that is really intense, and is in fact harassment that could get that person in serious trouble.
Wow, I didn’t even know you existed and had that power, so you must be someone important. Do you have a boss who can take the whole forum down? 
Matt,
Thanks for taking the time to clarify this. I appreciate both the professionalism and transparency. As a hobby that still gets misunderstood as being a bunch of yokels making bathtub hooch, we need that level of professionalism from the AHA.
Yes, the post was shockingly inappropriate and malicious. So the decision to delete was a slam dunk no-brainer. I’d never seen anything like it here prior. Hope not to again soon.
Thank you very much for clarification as I saw the thread but was not following it.
Yes he does. So don’t piss him off otherwise he’ll shutdown the forum and bring TechTalk back :o
I did read the first post that came through and I think Matt made the right decision.
More likely he worked for a stir plate manufacturer, and the ‘shaken not stirred’ method was cutting into his revenue, so he launched a vendetta against Mark.
So why the deletion/removal of posts and threads that fall under that category?
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Because there are enough emotional (bordering on religious) views in the homebrewing community without bringing even more potential for drama into it?
Yes, we do have a boss that can bring the whole forum down.
He is the leader and most powerful of the turtle-like Koopa race; whose ultimate goal is to kidnap and marry Princess Peach, defeat Mario, and conquer the fictional Mushroom Kingdom.
I didn’t catch that one and I’m glad I didn’t. I’m happy to take some ribbing or honest critiques, but what happened to ‘S. Cerevisiae’ went way to far. I saw his follow up post and assumed he was outed on another forum. While I’m disappointed it happened here I am glad it wasn’t a regular of our “like minded group.” “Suspended” gives me hope he will be back, but until then who the h*ll is going to be our yeast guy?