On 10/24/2010 9:12 AM, John H wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:57:57 -0400, wrote:

On 10/23/2010 7:49 PM, A.Boater wrote:
On 23-Oct-2010, wrote:

There are far fewer boating-related posts here than I imagined, and
that's for sure. Wouldn't it be great if some of the remaining posters
just bit the bullet and tried to be more agreeable? Especially those who
are boaters. I don't know who is and who isn't, but there seems to be at
least a few here whose only interest is stirring up the pot and
insulting other posters.

Paul, you know what is and isn't here; I know who you are.

But, since we are having this dance, certainly it would be better if people
were more agreeable. But, what would they agree about? They don't boat
anymore, so there won't be any "Your Bayliner sucks" or "Chain Rodes Rip Out
Cleats" or "What is the best boat" threads. So, what do they talk about?
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Hate. Racism. Politics. Creeping Socialism.
Liberals. NeoCons. This is all about people that have huge vacuous spaces in
their lives and the drama that you read here on a daily basis is their
artificial fix of passion that makes life bearable.

Years ago, the anonymous Smithers threw the gauntlet down and now it has
fallen so far out of reach, it can't be recalled. Not even a nice-guy-newbie
is going to fix the mess that was artificially created.

I'd like to bring "the answer" to this. When faced with a problem, I
generally try to offer a solution along with the acknowledgement of the
problem. I just don't have one. I don't know if there is one.

Take this away, there will be nothing different until this newsgroup is
again filled with actual boaters.


It seems to me that the remaining boaters here could try to keep posts
on topic or at least close to on topic, and ask those who seem unable to
control themselves to try a little harder to behave like reasonable
adults. It wouldn't hurt anyone to give it a try. After all, what is
there to lose by being reasonable?

One can discuss politics as it affects boating. Here's an example: I
don't know much about the government's budget for updating charts. I
know I have encountered sandy and rocky shoals near the shorelines of
Long Island Sound that are not indicated in any way on any of charts I
have seen. Is it a political decision to not spend money on surveying
the waterways? Is this common elsewhere? Who is in charge, politically,
and what can be done about it?

I don't know the Smithers whom you refer to and I probably wouldn't care
to.

A discussion about "chain rodes rip out cleats" would be on topic and
possibly very funny!

I'd go along with the idea of 'no politics', 'no religion', and 'no personal
attacks'. To say 'politics as it affects boating' is OK is simply asking for
political fights. The answer to your question, for example, is, "Obama is in
charge, and he doesn't give a rat's ass about your problems in the waterways
unless it will get votes for Democrats in the next election."

See what I mean?

Sure. Good point, though a "reasonable boater" would know that the
ignoring of our waterways has been going on for decades and is due to
bipartisan neglect and has nothing to do with the boater voting bloc,
which is pretty small and relatively powerless.

I certainly agree with "no politics," "no religion," "no personal
insults" and would add "no ID spoofing," either. Our credo should be:
"Here's to swimmin' with bowlegged wimmin!"

It should be easy to see who wants a better, more fun and topical
newsgroup and who does not.

It's cloudy and cool now. I might bike down to the boat and putter
around a bit. It's a good bike ride.