i read the the new feature on the front page and it baffled me. i always refrain from discussing my political views where i'm not supposed. i could care less what other on this forum think of the war in iraq or of bush as long as they don't bring it up at the poker tables. if i were to discuss what i think of many non-poker related issues here i'm sure i would get suspended or at least have my posts deleted. not that i want to in the first place but i would expect the same from everyone else. and i thought that the general consensus on this site was to stick to poker

moreover, the title is very deceptive. "Perspectives: Poker, Politics, and War" had nothing to do with poker but was barage of political ramblings, in support of the war, saturated and stuffed with neverending melo-drama about dead soldiers to deter any future criticism.

that piece leads me to the conclusion that the site owners/administrators are trying to send a particular political message by allowing the publication of this piece. not sure how great this woud be for business. just yesterday there was a bragging piece about the swedish hero of poker, riverloser, that i assumed was targeted towards encouraging the european crowd to get more invovled here. i don't think this piece would help one bit with improving the business. it simply shows lack of professionalism and i'm sure it will intimdate quite a few users.

i've been part of the community for almost two years now, and while i don't contribute a ton, i still follow up the discussion forum on a daily basis and i've continuously encouraged my friends to join the site and get involved especially to improve their game. if this piece stays up, i'm afraid that i would have to distance myself from this community unless i can get a clear rational explanation to how those ramblings have anything to do with poker, promoting online poker or promoting the p5.

sighhhh

blame canada

im sure p5's wont be able to get along without you

It's funny, since I read this article, and I had my own thoughts on the article. Not as much as that it was inappropriate, other than it's the classic "keep your perspective" article. It's the same sort of thing that Seal tried to do a few months back and got lambasted for (since he had a fictional story), yet since this had a soldier, everyone would have to support it, or be seen as a traitor to the US (at least if your a citizen in the US, which many of us are).

That being said, I don't see it as a political article, since it was written by a soldier. I think we all expect (and even hope) that the soldiers over there are going to support the war. They are going to see the good aspects of it. Their lives are on the line, it would be impossible to do the job that they have to do if they don't believe this.

Also, whether you support the war or not, I think most people believe the soldiers are doing one hell of a job (something I definitely believe). If you accept this, I think you willingly accept that soldiers will believe in the war, and even if you don't, you accept their view from them.

Also, it wasn't hidden where the perspective came from, so oveall, I don't have an issue with it, even if it isn't going to win my vote as article of the year.

oh i never said the soldier had a hidden perspective, but i was talking about whomever approved the article for posting on the site knowing the appropriateness and such.

you can post whatever you want on the forum but when it becomes an article it means that p5 condones it and promotes it. my rant was not meant to argue the politicalness of the article but the appropriateness of posting it on this site. it really had nothing to do with poker and referencing poker legislation doesn't make it relevant. it's like me saying: "last year i did a lot of gardening and while my wife forced me to pluck weeds and not play poker they passed that legislation so i had to deal with my wife's legislations and congress legislation.. that's not fair?!"

LOL @ flaming the OP for his political views...

Obviously he's right, the article has zip and zero to do with poker. Taking a random article about a random subject and adding in a line or two that says "Oh yeah and I like poker i play poker sometmies" doesn't make it a poker article, rofl.

That being said, who the F cares? OP, you don't have to read it if you don't want to. Maybe P5's staff just didn't have any interesting articles submitted recently. Who cares? There's plenty of poker content on this site, and plenty of non poker content ( » Off Topic ) for everyone to choose to enjoy or not.

Its kinda sad when the only positive news coming from "The Iraq" gets posted on a poker forum!

but Im just another liberal to you apparently

Pretty much what I got out of it too, along with the point that there are bigger things going on in the world than poker. I didnt see it as as political article, nor as particularly pro-war. Perhaps mayhem needs to stop looking for an agenda where there is none and take some things at face value. And maybe learn to see/hear an opposing point of view without throwing a temper tantrum.

Did you even read the article?

If you can't see how this promotes online poker, I suggest you take another look.

He clearly denounces the UIGEA passage.

Also, the statement that pocketfives is trying to push a particular agenda is absurd. I have no idea how you could make that leap.

This post makes me kind of sad, because we've generally gone way out of our way to keep articles off this site that express strong political views in one way or the other. I'm sure you can find at least 10 members of this site who have submitted articles that they thought were relevant to poker that we didn't publish for the exact reason that we didn't want people to feel the way you feel to be making this post.

I felt this article was different--it wasn't sending a political message; it didn't say "the war is right or wrong" or even "you should understand where ____ party is coming from." It was simply about a guy's experiences overseas and how the poker legislation in the US made him feel. Sometimes a lot of the topics that are regularly posted, discussed, and written about get old. I think it's nice when someone writes an article about something a little different. I kind of feel now like if we even post anything with the word "war" in it, people are going to assume we've got a political agenda. The truth is, we've all gone way out of our way, as owners of the site, to keep our own beliefs separate from our business, and we intend to continue to do so.

loooooool, wp nick, vwp.

Mayhem, mayhem mayhem, get a grip on life. Your political views are very apparent which obvioulsy are sad but that is another conversation. Its funny i was coming to discussion board to start a thread to thank Moses for his service and nice reminder of how precious life really is and it doesn't matter whether you are european, Asia, or whatever you are or from.

Obviously i am biased on two fronts, #1 my wife has been fighting AML (Acute Myloid Leukemia) over the last 3 years and I was very touched by Moses's remarks on how precious life is and it was a very nice reminder on how we all take things for granted. Obviously you like to live in your own little bubble and don't want to know anything about anything.

LOL @ ramblings. Every thread on every site allows for off topic subjects and if you don't like them don't read them or participate in them.

2nd, i was in the military (which you obviously wouldn't understand about looking out for someone else) for the Persian Gulf War so i understand what Moses is going through.

Mayhem get out of your basement a little more often in order to break out of your bubble world.

"As a democrat, I was expecting worse."

Why do I find that so funny? At least you could get past your low expectations on this one.

lol @ title of this thread...

EVER HEARD OF THE PPA?

EVER LISTEN TO A PODCAST?

btw, what, exactly, is the "political view" expressed in this piece? How is it any more a social view, or a psychological view, or a personal view, that the author is expressing?
Ironically enough, it is your own political opinion that is driving you to make a post in response...but we shouldn't express our political opinions on a poker forum? (ignore PPA, port authority, illegal gambling etc)
I know you were talking about the war, and when you say "politics" you really mean "foreign policy in the middle east", but as far as the author goes, just b/c someone is a soldier, this does not make them a war monger.

Soldiers should support the war, they shouldn't be putting their life on the line for something that they are against. They are entitled to their opinions, and should be given respect. The thing is, I did not find this article to be a "Rah rah, USA! USA!" piece.

He seemed to be mildly criticizing the way some parts of the war were being handled (with a hopeful outlook), and then he criticized the Unlawful Gaming Act for being contradictory with the ideals of freedom.

Show me what in this article is so offensive to you, because I just don't see it.