On 7 Nov 2003 00:22:24 -0600, noah wrote:

[snip]

But for now, I am...out of here.

Joe Parsons

Joe, on a personal level, you are an asset to this group.

Aside from the fact that I like your prose,

Thank you.

the group needs people
that care about "the group". Without advocates, this group could
easily become a total spam dump. It is happening already.

I don't see the problem as spam--that is quite easily dealt with, even without
filters. The problem is that the rec.boats has been essentially turned into a
venue for politically-flavored bickering--and not very good bickering at that.

If regs want to talk OT, then let's create a welcome forum for it,

It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's necessary. As I've said over and over
again, it's not OT chatter that has ruined the newsgroup.

not
burn down our own house because of it, or drown rec.boats in OT posts.

There is room for everyone, and every viewpoint, but only if there is
some basic cooperation and respect.

If you need a break, enjoy it. I hope that you'll come back with a
new energy and focus to help get this group back to "boating".

I am not leaving because I need a "break," Noah. I am leaving because this
newsgroup no longer has anything substantive to offer on the subject of
boats--and wading through this...marsh of doctrinaire nonsense is too unpleasant
to be worthwhile.

I'm going to comment on a couple of the other followups, as well.

Joe Parsons