OK, so now everyone has been properly chastised, the language has been condemned, the attitudes, of some, suitably addressed. Nothing could justify the actions of a couple of list members. Nothing!
Nonetheless we shouldn't forget Arnold's part in this. I liked the analogy of one member about coming to a party of strangers and complaining that it's a lousy party and no one is conducting the kinds of conversations that were expected. To pin it down a little further, complaining about the hors d'oeuvres, but not bothering to bring any of his own. The regulars at the party have every right to say "Who the hell are you?" My 2 cents.
John Dunn in Boise
> >But as I grow older, I covet all of our freedoms more and more, and do
not
> >accept this attempt at censorship.
>
> this, kind of reaction, to me, is absurd. someone voicing their
> concern (and bafflement) over a lot of list traffic seeming to
> be off-topic does not a censor make.
>
> ive been subscribed, on and off, to probably 50+ mailing
> lists in the space of my 15 years on the net, and rarely have
> i seen one as unique as this one in its simultaneous lack of
> and very specifc focus. itll get overrun with minutiae concerning
> masis (for example...) one week, and then the next week, its
> nothing but nonsense (and i say that with love) about twizzlers.
>
> if youre used to a standard, very structured "on-topic" list
> (which many lists that receive this kind of traffic are, by
> neccessity - as it is, i give this list a whole separate mailbox,
> cause it about doubles the amount of email i get daily, not
> counting spam) - the cr list may come as a surprise.
>
> unfortunately, though, weve not been entirely welcoming to
> arnold - even if he did enter in on the wrong foot in some ways
> (though i dont think anything he posted originally was worthy
> of some of the vitriol and hes received in return) - and now it
> appears weve lost a member before they even got a chance
> to join in.
>
> a pity, cause some discussion about 30s-40s era bikes
> wouldve been a nice addition to the standard fare. moot
> point now, i suppose, though.
>
> -joel
>
> --
> joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
> bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
> po box 191443 san francisco ca 94119-1443 usa
> ==
> i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
> after she got that bicycle...