The "Gang of Seven" should go to jail for 90-days, and see if it improves
rec.boats.
There are seven personalities here causing most of the trouble. While the
number of people involved in the general ruckus certainly exceeds seven, it is
my opinion that the following posters, (listed in alphabetical order), are
primarily responsible for the increasingly nasty tone and OT content of
rec.boats. Others not listed below are merely co-dependent:


Gould0738: May know a little about boats, but contributes to general chaos.
Starts few OT threads, but participates freely. Encourages the liberals and p's
off the conservatives. He can be extremely vindictive. Seldom wins or loses
graciously. This reckless, maverick, self centered personality bends and/or
disregards most rules that others rely on to establish social structure. His
free-for-all attitudes are generally incompatible with the NG format.

Harry Krause: A perpetual troublemaker who views rec.boats as a personal
playground. Talks "down" to everybody even when not trying to do so. A major
originator of OT posts. In common with the other members of the gang of seven,
he puts his own need to express opinions and
argue points above the general welfare of the group.

Jim: Has appeared in rec.boats as at least two separate personalities, both of
them
extremely combative. Contributes to the negative atmosphere by firing off cheap
insults at posters he disagrees with. Has very little actual boating
experience, and virtually never contributes anything on topic. Once said "I
come to rec.boats just to stir up trouble. I go elsewhere for real boating
newsgroups".

jps: A relentless cutter-and-paster of newspaper articles critical of George
Bush
and the right wing in general. Possibly feels that his behavior is justified
because of the ready audience he finds in the NG.
A source of much of the OT material in the NG.

Karen Smith: owns all or part of a boatyard
in Australia. Visits rec.boats primarily to argue and call names. When the
group was more on-topic, she demonized everyone (else) involved in the marine
business. Now that the group has devolved to more off-topic material, she has
decided that she's really a displaced American conservative (and that the evil
enemies are all the liberals in the world), so the names and the flames can
continue undiminished.

NOYB: A fledgling dentist from Naples, FLA, who is listed as a participant in a
few dozen newsgroups. Not sure he owns a boat. Never posts on topic. He is the
counter-point to jps, cutting and pasting general news articles favorable to
George Bush and the right wing in general. Most honest, and likely the most
extreme of all rec.boats conservatives. A major author of OT threads.

Wally: A lesser version of the Jim/Dennis Compton profile.Typical post is two
lines of insulting response to an OT comment. Contributes very little as far as
the nominal topic goes, but adds significantly to the combative, adversarial
atmosphere in the NG. Unable to engage in civil debate. Has no ability to
respect contrasting opinion. He may well be fairly intelligent, but fails to
present as such in this format.

Anyhow, I think this is such a good idea and holds such promise that I hereby
adopt it. I'm out of here for at least 90-days
(leaving you all with a gang of only six) and by my example I challenge my
fellow trouble makers to do the same.

If I check back at the end of that time it will be interesting to see if any of
the other trouble makers agreed with my suggestion for a time out, and whether
the group improves in tone or content as a result.

(There will be very little point in flaming my comments above......I won't be
around to read your remarks. If you're included in my list and need to get
"even", send me an e-mail. Thanks)