FireSociety - Letter from the Editor

Iowa Caucus Winner Announcement

(FS) Sean Ivy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:26:44 GMT

Before I get to the good news, I'd like to let the members know how we choose the winner. We expected the predictions to be varied on all counts, and set up the following qualifications and 'tie-breakers.' First and foremost was name and percentage of the vote for the winner. Then the Democrat winner, his percentage and finally the order of the Top 5 Republican Candidates. I'd first like to congratulate the 20 members who correctly identified Mike Huckabee winning with 34% of the vote. This is in order that they submitted their prediction. LA Racer1 JohnnyD Ransack Cabresch setachctub Buster13 Denise0513 The Big Red Bird cyndiUSA Boaz007 TXTENNman open eyes David Cooksey SissyTheClown Jimbo1185 BLusk jimzgoff brownkb BWG As the first Tie breaker qualification, we looked at the Democrat Caucus Winner. The following members correctly identified Obama as the winner of the Democratic Caucus. JohnnyD Ransack Cabresch Denise0513 The Big Red Bird cyndiUSA Boaz007 TXTENNman open eyes SissyTheClown Jimbo1185 BLusk jimzgoff brownkb BWG The next tie-breaker was the percentage of the vote that the Democrat winner recieved. This was the final breaker and determined a winner, but we would like to mention 3 other members who were within 1 ...

Moderator Interview - BiotechBabe

(FS) Sean Ivy — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:25:44 GMT

This week I started the process of interviewing each of the Moderators, for you, the members of Fire Society. For this week's interview, I sat down with BiotechBabe and asked her a few questions about her experience at Fire Society. Sean: Good Morning, BiotechBabe, what originally brought you to Fire Society? BTB: I have been a member of grassfire.org for several years prior joining Fire Society. I had never participated in a forum like this before. I thought that if it is linked to grassfire.org it has to be on the up and up. I enjoyed participating in signing important petitions through grassfire.org and thought it might be interesting to see what other Americans are thinking and talking about with regard to related issues. Sean: What keeps you coming back? BTB: I have always worked with the public and enjoy meeting new people. The apathy of the bulk of our American population drives me to "get involved". The mainstream media "twists" everything so much - there is a need for Americans to "wake up" and keep an eye on the people they have elected to represent them. It felt good to have a hand in killing S 1369 this past ...

Fire Society and You - Contributing to Fire Society

(FS) Sean Ivy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:09:13 GMT

As Editor for Fire Society, one of my jobs is to go through our many submissions and choose articles and petitions to publish on the site. It has become increasingly commonplace to find different “immediate rejections” in the queue. I'm writing this today to help you keep from making the same mistakes others have made. IF THE ARTICLE IS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS I will send it back to the drafts for revision. As you can see, this is very difficult to read, especially if it's a regulation size article. If the article is in all bold letters, then I will reject it immediately. You can avoid this mistake by selecting all the text in the article, and then using the format tools available on the article submission page to format the article as “Paragraph” using a single font, and font size. Using bold to highlight key phrases or quotes is acceptable. I will also immediately reject an article that is just a direct paste from another site's article or an email sent around the internet. Commenting on an email you received and using quotes from the email are fine. I will send back any article filled with smilies. Overuse ...

Hard Decisions

(FS) Sean Ivy — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 13:25:54 GMT

As many of you have already seen, yesterday the Fire Society staff made the hard decision to ban some of the members of the community. This move was not made to silence anyone, it was done in order to bring peace back to Fire Society, so that as a community we can make progress in fulfilling our original goals. I've had multiple posts about “Tone” on the site, and even sent out several newsletters on the subject as well, asking the members to think before posting, realizing that text does not communicate the body language and tone of voice that tends to solidify how things are meant to be taken. Unfortunately a small few of our members did not understand this, they continued to attack anyone who thought differently than them. They attacked the hard working volunteer moderators of the site, and reveled in baiting them to response. We asked them to be civil, and were greeted with only extreme views and statements. After the bans yesterday I received my share of email from them and others, most of it supportive of the hard work the staff of Fire Society does, and some from those who were banned. Unfortunately the ...

The Art of Deception

(FS) Sean Ivy — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 04:04:43 GMT

As an editor for Fire Society, I am expected to be a neutral voice of reason. In my last blog, I wrote a letter to Ron Paul offering him my support on his journey towards the Presidency. It was misunderstood... and to some extent. it was supposed to be. This revelation will relieve some, upset some, and even though it is not meant to, discourage some. I wrote my letter to get people talking about an often misunderstood, and in the case of Fire Society, often attacked, candidate. I have not decided who I will vote for , however I believe that Ron Paul does have some good ideas and my letter was meant to highlight some of those ideas. I had originally intended to write a 'letter' to each candidate, expressing my support on their journey, thanking them for bringing their opinions and ideas to the political theater, and offering them good wishes. However, it was brought to my attention that this could do more to confuse, than help. I realized as well from the discussion on my article that Fire Society is full of very passionate people. Whereas it is good to be passionate about our ideas, opinions, ...

Letter to Presidential Hopeful Ron Paul

(FS) Sean Ivy — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:38:56 GMT

Dear Ron Paul, It is a tough decision when choosing which Candidate you will support. As the Editor for a grass roots community that has helped stop the impending passage of several key Democratic attempts at Amnesty, I get to see supporters for every candidate, I get exposed to 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' sides of every candidate. After going over the pros and cons for each candidate, I'd like to offer you my thanks for running for the office of the President of the United States, and would like to give you my support during your journey. There are multiple issues that I am glad to agree with you on, first and foremost as a father of 3, including a young daughter, I appreciate your staunch support for life in opposing the Roe v. Wade verdict. It is imperative that we as a country support mothers and encourage them to stand up for the lives of their unborn children. How many future Senators, Congressmen, Supreme Court Justices, and Presidents have probably died already due to this lapse in the judgement of the American judicial system? The possibilities are staggering, and this saddens me. In keeping with your ...