Very Respectfully To All Here...

AS AN ADULT CONTRIBUTOR HERE, I ABSOLUTELY RESENT the involvement and comments made by Matt- the Spice Place Administrator at Cathy's Chatter Thread: "Please ... call the White House".

June 15th would have been my 2 year anniversary at Spice Place and in that entire time this is the very first instance that I've seen or heard a single PEEP out of the Administrator - and then when he does pipe-up it's to state that "this is a food forum, only" (Excuse me sir- isn't the "Chatter" forum specifically desgined for- let's see- how does Spice Place put it? "Anything Not Related To Cooking"?)

Matt, do you realize that at an unprecdented time like this in our history- Spice Place is likely to be the ONLY internet forum of any type to squelch and deny discussion on this particular subject matter that remains so real, relevant, raw, and un-resolved to so many?

Your closing of Cathy's thread could have had much more honest meaning had you simply closed it- and NOT taken the opportunity to list several biased personal opinions afterwards. You could have taken part in the conversation and contributed that way if you so wished your voice and viewpoints to be heard. Instead, you imposed your authority to stop a conversation amongst grown adults and your rants made you look like a disgruntled sore loser who was simply throwing a tantrum about a conversation that may not have been painting your candidate in the most positive light.

The Gulf Oil Spill is a tragedy that effects all in very deep ways- especially our Southern friends, neighbors and loved ones, and to deny them the opportunity to share meaningful conversation about it is a LACKING on your part. Spice Place is a home-away-from-home for many. We are famliy here. Your putting your foot down and demanding the end of an adult conversation that many were finding significant meaning and healing in was a derogatory, demeaning and INSULTING move.

I think you made a poor and unwise decision and I for one will not support it.

Dear friends here- please do not lose touch w/ me. I may be contacted at: kjolomon@hotmail.com

I'm taking a break. I'm proll'y not gone forever, but for the time being, I need some space so I can cool off a bit...

We have had many discussions here where politics has been mentioned and some of them have gotten heated in the past without a peep out of an administrator. We are all adults and most of us are friends. We are capable of having a discussion regarding the worst disaster in US history like adults.
We want to express our thoughts and prayers to our members affected by this disaster.

As for this being a food forum well like Kev said this is the chatter thread for topics other than food. I am probably the worst one here for posting off topic threads.
We have lost a lot of our old regulars these days and most of them who do check in rarely post. Im afraid this action by the Admin is just going to make that worse.

I am stunned that Matt stepped in and closed Cathy's thread. I have to agree with Kevin on this.

I also wanted to add if this is just a cooking forum and only cooking discussions allowed Matt needs to remove the Chatter thread all together and state the exact rules of what is permitted and what is not.

Yes we are all adults - and we are a fine group - and we need to remember to respect one another.

There are certain topics (politics, religion, and s.e.x.) that can be quite controversial and offensive (yes, I know just about anything can be offensive!) and are sometimes better left alone.

This is Matt's site - and that is something we all need to remember. I don't think he meant to offend anyone or start anything - chat forums on any site are not easy.

The thread has not been deleted - just closed.

One thing - it's nice to be able to play with fonts and colors when posting - but sometimes it can come across as "screaming" and it doesn't get the attention (or the type of attention) you really want/expect.

And when posting anything anywhere on the net - everyone has their own interpretation of the posting - and that is when things don't always go so good.

Sometimes it's not an easy decision...........