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Events-driven Moderator activities - another look at guidelines
9/21/01 | Lead Moderator

Posted on 09/21/2001 7:49:05 PM PDT by Admin Moderator

Users of FreeRepublic deserve an explanation of recent moderator activities. By signing up to be a user of the forum, everyone agrees to abide by the posted guidelines. This is another look at those guidelines, the intent behind them - and some new guideline enhancements that are being incorporated that need the attention of everyone.


WHY GUIDELINES NOT RULES

Let’s begin first by hearing from Jim Robinson about the difference between guidelines and rules, and why FR has guidelines.

One thing I've always resisted on FR is having a lot of rules. Especially if they have to be strictly enforced. We've always had our general posting guidelines, but we like to leave a lot of latitude so as not to stifle debate.

It is our desire to keep out clearly inappropriate material, while allowing as much room as possible for debate.

Guidelines, rather than hard and fast rules presupposes that the success or failure of them rests with the users of FR. If there is a breakdown, the intent of the forum is compromised. Jim puts it this way.
We are a news and current events discussion site. We are conservatives. We are adults. The FR forum is a working forum where we are not only discussing news and issues that are important to us, but we are also planning and engaging in political activism projects. We do not appreciate being interrupted by people who want to post insults or smear attacks or personal attacks or otherwise try to disrupt our activities, etc.


WHAT WE WANT, AND DON’T WANT

We are looking for news articles, well written and well informed opinion, facts and usable information and certainly having some fun now and then while we pursue the goals of keeping our government as servant of the people - and not allowing it to make us more its servants.

In short, as the lead moderator, I don’t like having to wipe up after the children here. I don’t enjoy, nor do I or any of those who work with Jim, “want to be posting police or thought police and we also do not want to be referees or judges.” (The reason that is in quotes is because Jim said it as we talked about the focus of this post.) He also said:

Posters should strive to avoid flame-wars and feuds and/or avoid posting materials that are clearly not welcome here, and then we can all enjoy the forum much more and we will not need as much moderation.
Interruption and disruption, in a nutshell, angers many - and causes them to hit the abuse button. That button has been hit far too often of late - creating a higher number of abuse complaints than ever before seen on FR, averaging some 300-500 per day (multiple complaints on between 100 to 200 articles per day.) Needless to say, many of these posts were pulled - many of them due to some of the most vicious and ridiculous flame-wars ever witnessed on FR - along with every sort of violation of posting guidelines. Unfortunately causing otherwise perfectly good articles to disappear in the process.
Such flame-wars brought John Robinson to suggest, “outright prohibiting”of them - and to say, “These types of posts detract from the FR message, people don't come here [for them.] People should have the good sense not to start these threads. Unfortunately everything needs to be spelled out in clear lettering or somebody is going to miss the point.”
John is right. Personally, I enjoy what we call ‘freeping’ - reading the news, commenting on articles and keeping up with events. I don’t enjoy having to stop and handle abuse complaints, and neither does anyone who works to assist Jim in maintaining order here. That has led to the following.


DEBATE AND DISAGREEMENT - LESS TOLERANCE FOR FLAME-WARS

Disagreement is part of debate, of that there is no question. But too often debate ends with someone calling someone else stupid, or using vulgar names. Moderators review posts and abuse reports received, and keep an eye out for those posts and users that we feel cross the line into racism, profanity and personal attacks. When that happens, we have no choice but to act.

We attempt to be as flexible as we can in allowing reasoned and temperate disagreement, but you can indeed look for less tolerance now for flame-wars on FR. We have been, and will continue to pull posts that are obviously, or thoughtlessly designed to start flame-wars.

In addition to that strengthening of our intent to keep the forum less combative and focused more on our goals, there are additional clarifications and additions to posting guidelines which follow.


NEW MODERATOR PRACTICES - OLD AND NEW GUIDELINES

Because we are ‘at war’ with terrorism, you may already have seen the old WWII policy of ‘loose-lips sink ships’ stated in posts here - something Jim began here, and has recently been followed and resurrected by major media outlets.

The policy is simple. If you have information about military movement that has not been published in major media, and is not considered ‘public knowledge’ it may be inappropriate or unwise to post it on FR. In short, use the question-gauge of, ‘does this come from major media?’ If so, and if it has not already been posted before, the information will not violate the ‘loose-lips’ policy.

The following is not new to FR, but this policy has been tightened and will continue as needed.


RACISM POLICY - THE TIGHTEST GUIDELINE ON FR

It is probably best to outline what is, and what is not acceptable where the subject of race is concerned - since first and foremost, race has been used by the enemies of Constitutional limits on government to force the removal of many of our freedoms.


NOT ACCEPTABLE

Blatant racism is indeed an ugly thing - and all material that is blatantly racist will be pulled when it is found or reported. Posts that express open hatred of any race, including Arabs - particularly Americans of Arab descent - are candidates for removal, and the expulsion of the poster from FR.

I suggest keeping your anger focused on those who use race to divide and conquer, i.e., the hypocritical socialists in the U.S. who needlessly fan the fires of racism to their advantage. Bigotry is part of racism, and part of religious persecution in the United States and elsewhere.

We know that, but keep your eye on where most of this comes from. Flatly stated, it is not from mainstream Americans, although many have fallen prey to it. The prostitution of major media in support of the socialist elite in academia and government should be slapped down hard with prime examples of the lack of racism right here on FreeRepublic - we have many of all colors and race among us. Let use that, not fall prey to the guile and habits of our real enemies.


RACE ACCEPTABLE

News and articles that discuss racial issues such as quotas, immigration, education and hiring practices in rational ways aimed at problems and redress are permitted.

News and articles and replies which discuss events, identified terrorists and those nations that harbor them are certainly permitted - along with appropriate comments, including outrage that does not include vulgarity, profanity, advocacy of killing of innocents, and ‘nuke-em-all’ sentiments, etc.

Posts and discussion of the religious beliefs of the various sects of Islam (there are several) are also allowed, but are limited to absence of the inappropriate content noted prior in this section.

The US has declared ‘war on terrorism' and those who support it - but all Arabs and Arab nations are not included in the definition of ‘the enemy.' Remember that, and that President Bush said, "In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect."


NEEDLESS DUPLICATES

We have a lot of duplication. Part of the guidelines are that users seek to avoid needless duplication or multiple posts of the same article from the same source. That includes an effort to do a search on the headline of the article to see if it has already been posted - before posting.

Note carefully, the success or failure of preventing needless duplication is predicated on the use of the original source document headline at all times, so that searches on that headline will be successful if it was posted prior. Posts that do not use the original headline may be removed.

Understandably, many times there are two or more people preparing the same post at the same time, having done a search and not found the article posted. Many times people ask moderators to remove a post they found to be a duplicate.

In addition, moderators also remove duplicate posts that are placed in the forum at approximately the same time. This is not to say that important news items can not be re-posted on the forum at some number of hours after an original post was posted. Some of these are appropriate, and moderators are urged to weigh the significance of such duplicates and allow them where appropriate.


COMMENTS

We are, as always, open to your comments on moderator activities. Some have made what I feel are good suggestions, some of which have been incorporated into the practices of moderators.

Once again though, we are not open to suggestions that moderators be identified - our anonymity will remain the policy of FR.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Free Republic; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
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To: Admin Moderator
When in doubt, assume hidden sarcasm tags.
101 posted on 09/21/2001 10:00:04 PM PDT by tacticalogic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Storm Orphan
Actually, I've got TONS of mail from this post. I'll handle it later (-:

But, thanks for the heads up.

102 posted on 09/21/2001 10:04:05 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]

To: Admin Moderator
LOL. See #35. After you told me it was ok to mention these things #35 said it would not be ok because the lives of Muslims would be in danger. I was responding to what he said...and my response is gone.

Anyway, I think he was right. The topic is not really appreciated on FR. I think it's relevant, however.

103 posted on 09/21/2001 10:05:43 PM PDT by JeepInMazar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: Admin Moderator
Thanks. Figure I can make your job easier by knowing where I need to police myself better.

crack.....crack....is that the ice?</font size>

104 posted on 09/21/2001 10:06:18 PM PDT by Storm Orphan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: Quix
I consider myself a conservative Christian and am sensitive to charges of religious bigotry. I'm sorry if you misunderstood my point as an attack on Christians.

Of course one's faith is an integral part of one's political/spiritual/ethical viewpoint and am not, in any way, trying to squelch or dismiss religious viewpoints, even those which I might disagree.

The overt purpose of the website is to advance conservative political discussion but I see no need for it to become bogged down with theological arguments that (IMO) are best reserved for another forum. I visit forums about parrots (I own one), sports and other areas I'm interested in. Politics do come into each of these forums but we try to brush them aside and focus on the subject matter of that particular forum. Folks who can't stay on topic usually get banned eventually.

As for the prayer threads, I'm reminded of the verse where Jesus commands his followers to go pray in secret and He will hear them in secret and intercede. I prayed tonight for our leaders, our nation and the victims of the recent attacks but I have no need to recite them here. I'm confident God hears my prayers just as well if I don't post them online.

Religion is a touchy issue and I don't wish to start any flames over it. There are a great many non-religious threads I've seen that I also thought were inappropriate for FR. Bottom line is that it's not my call. Thank goodness I don't have to run this thing.

As with any large group, what's important to one can often be irrelevent to others. JimRob has a pretty big tent here. I just wish more people could remember why they're in it.

105 posted on 09/21/2001 10:07:01 PM PDT by Tall_Texan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: Admin Moderator
PERHAPS YOU or someone on this thread could give me a fitting suggestion. . . (BTW--keep getting kicked back to list of major headings of threads when I click PostReply button on this). . . I THINK the following is quite fitting in current news or extended news re WTC. But are those fitting places for it? Where better, if not?

From: Pat Bridgewater To: mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:@flint.mmind.net Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 1:17 AM
Subject: Assembly of God News #601 --

(snip personalized intro to evidently Pat's personal email list)
A/G NEWS #601: September 14, 2001

--DRAMATICALLY--

SURVIVING THE 81ST FLOOR OF WORLD TRADE TOWER TWO

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began like any other day for Bethel Assembly of God deacon and Sunday school superintendent Stanley Praimnath of Elmont, Long Island. He got up early, took a shower, prayed, got ready and headed for work. The drive was uneventful. The train ride was the same. Yet, this day he would see the hand of God spare his life.

"For some particular reason, I gave the Lord a little extra of myself that morning [during prayer]," Stanley said. "I said, 'Lord, cover me and all my loved ones under your precious blood.' And even though I said that and believed it, I said it over and over and over."

When Stanley arrived at World Trade Center Tower Two, he took the elevator up to his office on the 81st floor. "I work for the Fuji Bank Limited," he said. "I'm an assistant vice president in the Loans Operations Department. The company is located on the 79th through 82nd floors."

Stanley greeted Delise, a young lady who had arrived before him. After talking briefly, he headed over to his desk and picked up his phone to retrieve his messages.

"As I'm standing there retrieving my messages, I'm looking out at the next building, One World Trade, and I saw fire falling through from the roof," Stanley said. "Now, this entire building is surrounded by glass, and you can stand up and from there you can see all the buildings, planes and everything flying at the same altitude."

As Stanley saw "fire balls" coming down, his first reaction was to think of his boss who works in that building. He decided to try to call him to see if he was okay. "I'm dialing his number, and getting no response. So, I say to Delise, the temp, 'Go, go, go--let's get out."

Delise and Stanley got on the elevator and went down to the 78th floor. Some other people were there. The company's president, the CEO, the human resources director and two other gentlemen joined the group and headed down to the concourse level of Two World Trade Center. If they had continued on and exited the building, all of their lives would have been spared. As it was, that's not the way it happened.

"As soon as we reached the concourse level, the security guard stopped us and said, 'Where are you going?' Stanley explained about seeing the fire in Tower One. According to Stanley, the guard said, "Oh, that was just an accident. Two World Trade is secured. Go back to your office."

That turned out to be fatal advice--aside from Stanley, Delise was the only one of that group to survive. "We were joking, and I told [Human Resources Director] Brian Thompson, 'This is a good time to think of relocating this building--it's not safe anymore.' " Stanley headed back to his office, but before he got there, he told Delise, that with the events of the day, she should go home and relax.

Thompson went to the 82nd floor, the president and CEO went to the 79th floor and Stanley got out on the 81st floor. When Stanley got to his office, his phone was ringing. "It was someone from Chicago calling to find out if I'm watching the news," he said. He told the caller everything "was fine."

But everything wasn't fine--far from it. As Stanley was talking, he looked up and saw American Airlines Flight 11 heading straight for him. "All I can see is this big gray plane, with red letters on the wing and on the tail, bearing down on me," said Stanley. "But this thing is happening in slow motion. The plane appeared to be like 100 yards away, I said 'Lord, you take control, I can't help myself here.' "

Stanley then dove under his desk. "My Testament [Bible] was on top of my desk," explained Stanley. "I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord was going to take care of me once I got there." As he curled into a fetal position under his desk, the plane tore into the side of the building and exploded.

Miraculously, Stanley was unhurt. However, he could see a flaming wing of the plane in the doorway of his department. He knew he needed to get out of his office and the building fast. But, he was trapped under debris up to his shoulders. "Lord, you take control, this is your problem now," he recalled praying. "I don't know where I got this power from, but the good Lord, He gave me so much power and strength in my body that I was able to shake everything off. I felt like I was the strongest man alive."

All the while, Stanley was asking to the Lord to spare his life. "I'm crying and I'm praying, 'Lord, I have things to do..., I want to see my family, Lord, help me through.' "

Stanley's office resembled a battle zone--walls flattened into dusty heaps, office equipment strewn violently, flames flickering about and rubble everywhere. "Everything I'm trying to climb on [to get out] is collapsing and I'm going down," he said. "I'm getting cuts and bruises, but I'm saying, 'Lord, I have to go home to my loved ones, I have to make it, You have to help me.' "

Suddenly Stanley saw the light of a flashlight. For a moment, it stunned him. "What were the chances of someone bringing a flashlight to this floor?," he thought. "My first gut reaction was, 'This is my guardian angel--my Lord sent somebody to save me!' "

Stanley began screaming, "I see the light, I see the light." But after clawing his way through the debris, he realized that he couldn't get out--all the exits were blocked and his "guardian angel" couldn't get to him--a wall was between him and the staircase. "He can't get to me and I can't get to him, and by this time I can't breathe," Stanley said. "I don't know if it was sulfur or what [burning jet fuel, perhaps], but I can smell this thing. I got down on my knees and said, "Lord, You've got to help me. You've brought me this far, help me to get to the staircase."

But then Stanley did something surprising. While praying on his knees, Stanley called out to the man behind the wall, "There's one thing I got to know, do you know Jesus?" The man replied he went to church every Sunday. Then they prayed together to enable them to break through the wall. "I got up, and I felt as if a power came over me," said Stanley. "I felt goose bumps all over my body and I'm trembling, and I said to the wall, 'You're going to be no match for me and my Lord.' " Moments later, he punched his way through the wall and, with the help of the man on the other side, was able to squirm his way through the hole in the wall. "The guy held me and embraced me and he gave me a kiss and he said, 'From today, you're my brother for life.' "

But the danger wasn't over. The man on the other side of the wall, who introduced himself as Brian, was an older gentleman and they still had 81 floors to walk down, with the building on fire and, unknown to them, in danger of collapse. "We hobbled our way down, and at every floor we stopped to see if anybody was there, but nobody was..., but a man was on the floor, and his back was gone, and he was covered in blood."

Stanley asked to be allowed to carry the man out, but a security guard told him it would be better to send somebody up. When they finally made it down to the concourse, only firefighters were there. "They were saying, 'Run! Run! Run!', they were telling us to run out, but they were not concerned about themselves," he said.

Stanley and Brian would have run from the building, but now the concourse was surrounded with fire. Wetting themselves under the building's sprinkler system, they held hands and ran through the flames to safety to Trinity Church about two blocks away. "I wanted to go to the church to thank God," Stanley explained, "As soon as I held onto the gate of that church, the building [World Trade Center Tower Two] collapsed."

Stanley and Brian made there way safely out of the danger area. Before they parted, Stanley gave his business card to Brian in hopes of contact at a later time, and said, "If I don't see you, I'll see you in heaven."

Cut and bloodied, with clothes tattered and wearing a borrowed shirt, Stanley finally made it home hours later to his wife Jennifer and his two girls, Stephanie (age 8) and Caitlin (age 4). "I held my wife and my two children and we cried," said Stanley. After thanking God for sparing his life, Stanley told God whatever he did, it will always be for His glory. "I'm so sore, but every waking moment, I say 'Lord, had you not been in control, I would not have made it.'

"For some divine reason, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the good Lord's mighty hand turned the plane a fraction from where I was standing," said Stanley. "Because when it crash-landed, it was just 20 feet from me. I don't care who would rationalize--what people would say now or years from now, but I know it was the handiwork of the Lord that turned that plane. My Lord Jesus is bigger than the Trade Center and His finger can push a plane aside!"

Dan Van Veen

106 posted on 09/21/2001 10:12:10 PM PDT by Quix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: Tall_Texan
NO! I didn't feel you attacked anything having to do with me. I just want to err on the side of being fitting in my input hereon rather than err on the other side--so I wanted further input from you about such.

By the same token, I'd like to enjoy something akin to the freedoms others of other persuasions enjoy hereon.

107 posted on 09/21/2001 10:16:46 PM PDT by Quix
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To: Quix
Quix, try that again, and keep your questions direct, without posting whole threads from elsewhere, ok?
108 posted on 09/21/2001 10:19:54 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: John Robinson, --ALL--
Here are some suggestions for users from another moderator, sharp cookie that he/she is. They are worth remembering
For those who want notice before a thread gets pulled, suggest that they save it on their own hard drive. Let them know that we do not have the time to notify before pulling because if a thread is bad enough to pull, it must be BAD. If they can't remember to save it, too bad.

For those who want a "take back" feature, suggest they hit the abuse button to remove their own post. SOMETIMES that works for me. hehe. Also remind them that's what the PREVIEW is for.

Remind the users that when they hit the abuse button, they will get a much faster response if they copy the entire post into the abuse box. Ask them to AT LEAST provide a FReepname and post #.

May I be specific here, by 'entire post' it is meant the offending reply on-thread, not the entire article. (Yes, I know - but, with some people like John says, you have to make it clear - sometimes in several ways - *bg*)
109 posted on 09/21/2001 10:30:19 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: Admin Moderator
AM--I wish you could bring Clarity back, do you think you could moderate for him with Jim? I miss Clarity's posts.
110 posted on 09/21/2001 10:35:58 PM PDT by kmiller1k
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: Admin Moderator
THX 4 PRIVATE REPLY. TRYING AGAIN TO DO WHAT I THINK you suggested.

My question is where is the most fitting place to post this sort of msg which follows. I believe it is most fitting in current news or extended news. But maybe I'm wrong.

MESSAGE EXAMPLE: [Pat B included this comment: "I received this from Dean and Charlotte this evening. From everything we've been able to check out, it is true." in her more personal introduction to her mailing list of friends.

Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 1:17 AM Subject: Assembly of God News #601 A/G NEWS #601: September 14, 2001

[DRAMATICALLY] SURVIVING THE 81ST FLOOR OF WORLD TRADE TOWER TWO

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began like any other day for Bethel Assembly of God deacon and Sunday school superintendent Stanley Praimnath of Elmont, Long Island. He got up early, took a shower, prayed, got ready and headed for work. The drive was uneventful. The train ride was the same. Yet, this day he would see the hand of God spare his life.

"For some particular reason, I gave the Lord a little extra of myself that morning [during prayer]," Stanley said. "I said, 'Lord, cover me and all my loved ones under your precious blood.' And even though I said that and believed it, I said it over and over and over."

When Stanley arrived at World Trade Center Tower Two, he took the elevator up to his office on the 81st floor. "I work for the Fuji Bank Limited," he said. "I'm an assistant vice president in the Loans Operations Department. The company is located on the 79th through 82nd floors."

Stanley greeted Delise, a young lady who had arrived before him. After talking briefly, he headed over to his desk and picked up his phone to retrieve his messages.

"As I'm standing there retrieving my messages, I'm looking out at the next building, One World Trade, and I saw fire falling through from the roof," Stanley said. "Now, this entire building is surrounded by glass, and you can stand up and from there you can see all the buildings, planes and everything flying at the same altitude."

As Stanley saw "fire balls" coming down, his first reaction was to think of his boss who works in that building. He decided to try to call him to see if he was okay. "I'm dialing his number, and getting no response. So, I say to Delise, the temp, 'Go, go, go--let's get out."

Delise and Stanley got on the elevator and went down to the 78th floor. Some other people were there. The company's president, the CEO, the human resources director and two other gentlemen joined the group and headed down to the concourse level of Two World Trade Center. If they had continued on and exited the building, all of their lives would have been spared. As it was, that's not the way it happened.

"As soon as we reached the concourse level, the security guard stopped us and said, 'Where are you going?' Stanley explained about seeing the fire in Tower One. According to Stanley, the guard said, "Oh, that was just an accident. Two World Trade is secured. Go back to your office."

That turned out to be fatal advice--aside from Stanley, Delise was the only one of that group to survive. "We were joking, and I told [Human Resources Director] Brian Thompson, 'This is a good time to think of relocating this building--it's not safe anymore.' " Stanley headed back to his office, but before he got there, he told Delise, that with the events of the day, she should go home and relax.

Thompson went to the 82nd floor, the president and CEO went to the 79th floor and Stanley got out on the 81st floor. When Stanley got to his office, his phone was ringing. "It was someone from Chicago calling to find out if I'm watching the news," he said. He told the caller everything "was fine."

But everything wasn't fine--far from it. As Stanley was talking, he looked up and saw American Airlines Flight 11 heading straight for him. "All I can see is this big gray plane, with red letters on the wing and on the tail, bearing down on me," said Stanley. "But this thing is happening in slow motion. The plane appeared to be like 100 yards away, I said 'Lord, you take control, I can't help myself here.' "

Stanley then dove under his desk. "My Testament [Bible] was on top of my desk," explained Stanley. "I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord was going to take care of me once I got there." As he curled into a fetal position under his desk, the plane tore into the side of the building and exploded.

Miraculously, Stanley was unhurt. However, he could see a flaming wing of the plane in the doorway of his department. He knew he needed to get out of his office and the building fast. But, he was trapped under debris up to his shoulders. "Lord, you take control, this is your problem now," he recalled praying. "I don't know where I got this power from, but the good Lord, He gave me so much power and strength in my body that I was able to shake everything off. I felt like I was the strongest man alive."

All the while, Stanley was asking to the Lord to spare his life. "I'm crying and I'm praying, 'Lord, I have things to do..., I want to see my family, Lord, help me through.' "

Stanley's office resembled a battle zone--walls flattened into dusty heaps, office equipment strewn violently, flames flickering about and rubble everywhere. "Everything I'm trying to climb on [to get out] is collapsing and I'm going down," he said. "I'm getting cuts and bruises, but I'm saying, 'Lord, I have to go home to my loved ones, I have to make it, You have to help me.' "

Suddenly Stanley saw the light of a flashlight. For a moment, it stunned him. "What were the chances of someone bringing a flashlight to this floor?," he thought. "My first gut reaction was, 'This is my guardian angel--my Lord sent somebody to save me!' "

Stanley began screaming, "I see the light, I see the light." But after clawing his way through the debris, he realized that he couldn't get out--all the exits were blocked and his "guardian angel" couldn't get to him--a wall was between him and the staircase. "He can't get to me and I can't get to him, and by this time I can't breathe," Stanley said. "I don't know if it was sulfur or what [burning jet fuel, perhaps], but I can smell this thing. I got down on my knees and said, "Lord, You've got to help me. You've brought me this far, help me to get to the staircase."

But then Stanley did something surprising. While praying on his knees, Stanley called out to the man behind the wall, "There's one thing I got to know, do you know Jesus?" The man replied he went to church every Sunday. Then they prayed together to enable them to break through the wall. "I got up, and I felt as if a power came over me," said Stanley. "I felt goose bumps all over my body and I'm trembling, and I said to the wall, 'You're going to be no match for me and my Lord.' " Moments later, he punched his way through the wall and, with the help of the man on the other side, was able to squirm his way through the hole in the wall. "The guy held me and embraced me and he gave me a kiss and he said, 'From today, you're my brother for life.' "

But the danger wasn't over. The man on the other side of the wall, who introduced himself as Brian, was an older gentleman and they still had 81 floors to walk down, with the building on fire and, unknown to them, in danger of collapse. "We hobbled our way down, and at every floor we stopped to see if anybody was there, but nobody was..., but a man was on the floor, and his back was gone, and he was covered in blood."

Stanley asked to be allowed to carry the man out, but a security guard told him it would be better to send somebody up. When they finally made it down to the concourse, only firefighters were there. "They were saying, 'Run! Run! Run!', they were telling us to run out, but they were not concerned about themselves," he said.

Stanley and Brian would have run from the building, but now the concourse was surrounded with fire. Wetting themselves under the building's sprinkler system, they held hands and ran through the flames to safety to Trinity Church about two blocks away. "I wanted to go to the church to thank God," Stanley explained, "As soon as I held onto the gate of that church, the building [World Trade Center Tower Two] collapsed."

Stanley and Brian made there way safely out of the danger area. Before they parted, Stanley gave his business card to Brian in hopes of contact at a later time, and said, "If I don't see you, I'll see you in heaven."

Cut and bloodied, with clothes tattered and wearing a borrowed shirt, Stanley finally made it home hours later to his wife Jennifer and his two girls, Stephanie (age 8) and Caitlin (age 4). "I held my wife and my two children and we cried," said Stanley. After thanking God for sparing his life, Stanley told God whatever he did, it will always be for His glory. "I'm so sore, but every waking moment, I say 'Lord, had you not been in control, I would not have made it.'

"For some divine reason, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the good Lord's mighty hand turned the plane a fraction from where I was standing," said Stanley. "Because when it crash-landed, it was just 20 feet from me. I don't care who would rationalize--what people would say now or years from now, but I know it was the handiwork of the Lord that turned that plane. My Lord Jesus is bigger than the Trade Center and His finger can push a plane aside!"

Dan Van Veen

111 posted on 09/21/2001 10:46:26 PM PDT by Quix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: --ALL--

'Moderator Hunters'

Is a term coined by one of the moderators, as we get lots of guesses about who the moderators are, sent to both the Sidebar Moderator and Admin Moderator logins.

Let me make this as clear as possible. Give it up - leave it alone, and forget about it. None of us will comment about the accuracy of the guesses for obvious reasons. None of us will say if any of them are correct, or that all of them are in error. Nor will we any longer tolerate such activity because it violates our stated purpose.

I will say this and make it abundantly clear once again. Anyone who sends such guesses runs afoul of our stated policy and attempts to undermine that policy. Those who send such FRmail or conduct ‘analysis’ to undermine that policy are subject to a week in the cooler for cause if caught doing so.

Clear enough? I hope so - because I will make it stick. Fair warning, do not tempt or goad moderators. Similar to another maxim, “It is not nice to tempt,” moderators (-:

112 posted on 09/21/2001 10:56:23 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: TheRealLobo
Mmmm, interesting.
And rest assured, that after reading your version here of our little disagreement, no one would ever believe that you could be inane or silly.

You do highlight a good point though. -- Everyone here has experienced unfair generalizations on their politics.
Why don't we all give it a rest? I'll stop if you'll stop.

113 posted on 09/21/2001 10:59:03 PM PDT by tpaine
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To: Quix
Good grief man, I suggested you mail that to me.
114 posted on 09/21/2001 11:03:23 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: --ALL--

'Moderator Hunters'

Is a term coined by one of the moderators, as we get lots of guesses about who the moderators are, sent to both the Sidebar Moderator and Admin Moderator logins.

Let me make this as clear as possible. Give it up - leave it alone, and forget about it.None of us will comment about the accuracy of the guesses for obvious reasons. None of us will say if any of them are correct, or that all of them are in error. Nor will we any longer tolerate such activity because it violates our stated purpose.

I will say this and make it abundantly clear once again. Anyone who sends such guesses runs afoul of our stated policy and attempts to undermine that policy. Those who send such FRmail or conduct ‘analysis’ to undermine that policy are subject to a week in the cooler for cause.

Clear enough? I hope so - because I will make it stick. Fair warning, do not tempt or goad moderators. Similar to another maxim, “It is not nice to tempt,” moderators (-:

115 posted on 09/21/2001 11:06:07 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: Admin Moderator
Sorry for my thickheadedness.

Somehow the personal mail had the same heading as this and I misconstrued that to mean that "here" was here.

116 posted on 09/21/2001 11:11:50 PM PDT by Quix
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To: Quix
Not to worry, Quix - we all make mistakes - certainly I make more than my share it seems (-:
117 posted on 09/21/2001 11:30:52 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: Kevin Curry
Anti-Christian bigotry has always had a warm and welcome place at FR.

I can attest to that and to anti-whites comments (eg, white trash or white trailer trash). If the phrase "white trash" is acceptable, seems to me that it would be ok to use the phrase "black trash" although I've never used it until now and only to make a point. Clearly the intent of such phrases is to demean and belittle. Just tonight I even saw someone with the nickname "white trash redneck. " Is such a nick appropriate?

PS: as this thread is getting rather long and the Admin wish to respond, I'd appreciate it very much if he/she does so by FReep mail. Thank you.

PPS: is it possible to maintain a given thread to, say, 100k bytes or, alternatively, to be able to "refresh" by adding the latest posts. Is this feature in Jim's future software programming?

118 posted on 09/21/2001 11:35:10 PM PDT by It is time (deleted)
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To: Admin Moderator

The tolerance of which has been lowered, which is the point of this post. It will be wise for all to keep that in mind.

I meant no controversy nor did I mean to question your points (as you will see from my previous posts on this thread). Rather, there was an implied query as to my prefered form of Freeping, and I simply explained that I enjoy both deeply intellectual discussions and the occasional brawl. That is all I meant by the post.

119 posted on 09/22/2001 6:22:25 AM PDT by Zviadist
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To: Silly
I don't think you ever got a straight answer to your question about 'extended news'.

Extended news is that news that's important, but doesn't deserve breaking or front page.... like followup info on a story or background information to a story.....

Ask yourself before posting, where would this article be in my newspaper? The front page, or somewhere in the back. If you say 'in the back', chances are it's extended news.

120 posted on 09/22/2001 7:19:48 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
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