The Town Hall Archives

*daniel · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 8:45 am Post subject: And we welcome Jared!

Alrighty. You may or may not have noticed, but you all have a new moderator to join the ranks. Jared is now part of the ModCorp, mostly because of his excellent references (something to do with small rodents and a slab of pine), his clear and concise diction *insert laugh here*, and his paranoia. Or was that a different Jared?

Anyways, I shoved him to the front of the list of people waiting to be Mod because after all he was the owner of the venerable Mole Boards, and you know, we respect that kind of thing around here. :)

Also, I'd like to make one correction to Jared's narrative of how the new Town Hall came to be: the primary reason that this message board changed from the old style wasn't because I felt intense competition (though I did!) from the MB, but because I had switched webhosts and the new one supplied me with more options that just MIVA scripts. I had a look around the internet, and I favoured this one above all. Mostly, I think, because I had been using it so often before at CMCentral.com.

And with no further ado, I present to you Mr Moderator!

Daniel Josph Xhan, your friendly owner/operator/megalomaniac...

Jared · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 9:15 am Post subject: My Inaugural Address

Wow! I feel like making a speech or something. In fact, I think I will! In the spirit of John F. Kennedy's first inaugural address...

(http://lib0131.lib.msu.edu/vvl/010894/public/all/01-0894-014.html)

Owner Xhan, Moderator Shadowpaw, Moderator Top Crusader, fellow Town Hall citizens:

We observe today not a victory of Mole Boards but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end far more than a beginning--signifying renewal, not a change.

The boards are very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of post numbers and all forms of posting bans. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the board--the belief that the rights of man include the freedom of emoticon usage.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of moderators proud and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which boards have always been committed, and to which we are committed today at the Town Hall and throughout the world - the right to be hopelessly off-topic.

Let every message board know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of duckies.

This much we pledge--and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share -- the ancient Mole Boards, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. As a moderator, I bring alliance between these two storied boards.

To those boards who had made themselves an adversary, the Town Hall offered not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by coding engulf all posters in planned or accidental board destruction.

They dared not tempt them with weakness. For only when their scripts were sufficient beyond doubt could they be certain beyond doubt that peace could be attained.

So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear.

But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the joining together of these boards. Today, we make a great step forward in reconciliation.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of coding instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the ducks, conquer the socks, eradicate monkeys, tap the Odyssian depths, encourage freedom to post.

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this moderatorship, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this board. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow posters, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this board was founded, each generation of posters has been summoned to give testimony to its Town Hall loyalty. Some left in revolution, under the trumpet call of Shadowpaw and myself. Now the trumpet summons us again--a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, month in and month out--
"rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of posters: too many boards, too lenient or too strict moderators and dumb posts.

And so, my fellow Town Hallians: ask not what your board can do for you--ask what you can do for your board.

My fellow citizens of the former Mole Boards: ask not what The Town Hall will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of posting.

Finally, whether you are citizens of this board or a citizen of the former Mole Boards, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the board we love.

As a new moderator, I will work to lead us into this reconciliation and into a new freedom to post -- unless you disagree with me.

Jeff · New Citizen Joined: 08 Dec 2002 Posts: 63

Congratulations Jared!

DrBlackgaard · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 11:43 am Post subject:

Ditto!

Jared · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 11:43 am Post subject:

Xhan moderates with moderation, The Top Crusader Moderates with determination, Shadowpaw moderates with trepidation... and I? With procrastination.

The Top Crusader · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 12:17 pm Post subject:

Congrats! Now let's all go and abuse our power! Woohoo!

Jacob Isom · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 5:26 pm Post subject:

See? That's why I love when Jared runs a message board! He gets funnier! Smile

I loved your speech Jared.

By the way... Jared, you really need to have your username capitalized. It's so unprofessional how you have it right now. It's not good. It's not right. Tons of crazed posters are going to be looking up at you as one of their moderators, and they won't respect you as much if your username looks sloppy. Wink

Jared · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 6:28 pm Post subject:

I've always hated to be unprofessional, even though I am. Therefore, I have followed the advice of one Jacob Isom, MD (Maniacal Dogmatist) and have reformatted my username here. Happy now, Jacob? Smile

hawkeye · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 6:34 pm Post subject:

Whew! Jared, I think you ahouls have made that speach a mole's length longer...

And, Xhan, since Jared admits he moderates with procrastination, how are things supposed to be any differnt?

Congrats Jar-jar Dawood

Shadowpaw · He Lies in Shadows Joined: 23 Nov 2002 Posts: 927

Welcome aboard Jared! "Trepidation"... I had to look that word up. Wow, I like that word. In any case, Jared, rule with the same authority you had at the Mole Boards. Is it just me, or does it feel like Xhan is buying everyone off and creating the all inclusive AIO Message Board? 8) I like the way he thinks.

Shadowpaw