You will all notice that a new room has been added to CurEvents.com. Actually, it's not really a room, but rather a Lookout Tower. The metaphor of a high place used to watch for danger is meant to help convey the intention of the room: to act as a place where the most essential threads are posted, ones that our Members need to know about NOW.

I thought this might be a good idea because we are growing so fast and have so many threads that sometimes essential information gets "buried" under all the other discussions, which are all good but often not critical. The Watch Tower is intended only for critical threads that contain "heads ups" or reports about developing situations that people need to know about in order to react or prepare.

To determine if a thread belongs in the Watch Tower, ask yourself this: does the post/ report contain information that impacts a significant number of Members directly, either now or in the short term? If so, it may belong in the Watch Tower. If not, it doesn't.

Examples of what belongs include: fresh news about a serious health issue such as a recall of a widely-used product; news about terrorist attacks or other "major bad news" in the US or Canada; information about serious weather events like major winter storms and hurricanes, and so forth.

Note that something doesn't qualify for the Watch Tower simply by virtue of being "breaking news". For example, today it was announced that Andrea Yates' murder conviction was reversed. This is breaking news, but it doesn't directly impact the lives of anyone other than the small group of people involved in the case. The same goes for things like political announcements, or deaths of foreign leaders, etc. In contrast, a terror threat that caused JFK airport in New York to be shut down would be both breaking news and of immediate importance. It would go in the Watch Tower.

Some specific guidelines for how the room will be run:

• We are leaving the room open for anyone to post in, hoping that folks will follow the guidelines and only post the most critical threads there. If it turns out that the Custodians have to constantly move threads out of the Watch Tower, we may change it so only Custodians can start new threads. Members could then request that threads be moved from other rooms.
• The Custodians and I will be fairly "ruthless" about moving things out of the Watch Tower, because it is only of value if it is kept "lean and mean". Also, threads that are moved out of the Watch Tower will typically be moved without a redirect (a line saying "this thread was moved".) Please do not be offended if you post something there and it is moved. In the end it is all a judgment call and there's nothing personal about a thread move.
• Threads will be kept in the Watch Tower only as long as they are current. Once the event they are discussing passes or becomes "stale", they will be moved elsewhere, typically the Great Hall. This means that much of the time, the Watch Tower may in fact be empty. This is by design, so you know at a glance there is nothing that needs your attention.

This is a relatively new concept and it may take some time until we settle on the best way to use it. Please be patient with us as we work this out.

As always, comments, questions and feedback welcome.

a0

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I like the name...

I think it is a good idea.... but I hope to christ I never have to post in it.

Chills

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Hey A0, great addition, how about a local report thread since we're coming into a period in the US of some potentially significant winter weather? I just thought I'd toss this out and see what you thought of a [sitrep] type thread... Either in the new room or the main room... (BTW, it's snowing here, and is supposed to snow for the next couple days)...

Maybe a weather link on the Front Page instead?

I like the LT concept, too. But IMO it should be like info-on-the-down-low sort of stuff, if you know what I mean. Local reports that are unlikely to be in media, elsewhere.

FWIW



nanna

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That sounds like a real good idea.

For those who are writing their own posts, instead of posting articles....

A good situation report should include the following elements:

- What is the danger?

- How severe is the danger?

- Is the danger imminent?

- What is the danger's source?

- What areas or people may be affected by the danger?

- What can be done to eliminate or prepare for the danger?

- What are the reasons that lead to the occurance or creation of the danger? Can the same series of event be avoided in the future?

Great idea A0! But I'd lean toward calling it the "Lookout Tower" rather than the Watch Tower because the Jehovah's Witnesses (when they do their door-to-door home visits) always hand out a monthly magazine of theirs called the "Watch Tower".... But hey, whatever the name, the reasoning for the addition is a good one! Thanks!


EDIT--see you've already christened & placed the room!!! Nice work!!

I like it.

Excellent! Now THIS is what I've been looking for! I sure hope the moderators stick to their guns and ruthlessly maintain this room as stated in the guidelines. If it were me, I'd have just started out with only a select few being able to post directly to the room, and have everyone else just notify a mod about something to consider posting. I suspect it will eventually end up there anyway. Regardless, I have high hopes for this room. Thank you!

Thanks Stephen!

Actually, I think we're doing a pretty good job. There have been several dozen threads in the Lookout Tower over the last 3-4 weeks, and I do move them out when they get more than a day or two old. There are just 3 in there right now. Usually there are between 0 and 5 threads there at a time.

a0

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Interested in a free-wheeling discussion forum, where you can express yourself openly on any topic without worrying about moderators and long lists of rules? Try Freedom Of The.Net -- it's Freedom of the Press, at Net Speed [tm].

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." -- Dante

"If you're not part of the problem, you're part of the solution." -- Aleph Null 

Oops. I posted a reaction to a news post. I guess that to keep the news thread clear that should not be done?

No worries Lisa. The forum is setup to get important stuff up where we can all see it AND discuss it. If a news post turns into a general discussion it may be moved to The Coliseum but not for a reaction or additional input.

BTW Welcome to Current Events.

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DILLIGAF?
 

Why just the USA or Canada? Im not complaining, just asking.

I think anything that could have implications here or is a 'bad' enough story in it's own right is valid. The Chinese typhoon fits. Yesterday evening I read of 600k being evacuated. Now it's 1.2 million. That could affect us downstream what with the ominous health stories coming out of there.

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At the time I wrote that, I don't think we had any members outside the US or Canada. That's obviously now changed and my directions are outdated.

There is no problem posting about major international news in the LT, and in fact we have done so many times before.

a0

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Interested in a free-wheeling discussion forum, where you can express yourself openly on any topic without worrying about moderators and long lists of rules? Try Freedom Of The.Net -- it's Freedom of the Press, at Net Speed [tm].

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." -- Dante

"If you're not part of the problem, you're part of the solution." -- Aleph Null 

Absolutely! We need to post important info for all the outlying provinces of Texas. No reason to limit the news to just the ones on this side of the planet.

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Aleph Null
Putting my hand up too, like Aussie. Just the other side of the continent.

From my experience there are no people on this earth as similar to Texans as are Australians. The day of 9/11, the first people that contacted me was a group from down under pledging their support. They only knew me from business emails but reached out to any American they could. They weren't waiting for the government. They immediately understood the situation and knew what to do. I have bumped into Australians in all my travels and it seems we are always the ones to have the most fun . . . and usually annoy most everyone else.

We need to have lookout towers on every ridge.

"We need to post important info for all the outlying provinces of Texas." Libertarian

"From my experience there are no people on this earth as similar to Texans as are Australians." Dyrt

It is my experiance that Aussies are the only people on this planet who can out lie Texans. That is a rare achievement! Yay Oz! And a BIG Texas welcome to all the Aussie members.

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DILLIGAF?
 

And I'm putting mine up too, East Coast Aussie, Tropical Cairns.

Libertarian, not too sure whether to be affended or proud of that statement mate? I have an Aunty who lives in Temple, Texas who lies better than me!!!
Anyway a Big Aussie hello to you too mate .

I work for a company which performs a lot of work for the U.S Army ships, these ships are mainly missile recover units for when these birds go astray. We all get on really well with the crew and have a great time together when there here. Anyway I was talking to the Captain of a certain vessel about a situation in Asia and how I was worried about it and what we would do as a nation with a limited force. He was also concerned and his comment was "We should all stick together in these times" which is what we should all be doing here.

Off topic a bit but I helped spot for japanese airplanes from a look out tower during WWII. One of many situated along the cascade range. There was a poster on the wall of the forms of the various alied and japanese planes and when one was spotted it was identified and a call was made down (and up) the line informing the next lookout tower what they were and that they were on the way.

I like the name and the whole concept--immediate and to the point.

No need to complain about it here. Complain about it on TB2K

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took care of it.