"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On 24 Dec 2005 10:21:29 -0800, wrote:

An unforseen result is that a group of
previously consistent but (relatively) low-level rabble rousers are now
as obvious as $20 hookers at a high school prom.

Those were the days.

Er....

Never mind.

Absolutely funniest line I ever heard about hookers, and it was $20 at that.
Shore fishing for stripers one evening near the SF Bay bridge. At that
time, the judge in Oakland told the cops she would not prosecute a hooker if
there was no John brought in. So there were about 250 Ho's on West
MacArthur Blvd, every evening. This Black guy next to me, says, "Man, 250
Ho's, and all they know is $20! You think there would be a price war." I
almost fell in the bay I laughed so hard. Still laugh, once in a while,
about that comment o this day.

Harry Krause wrote:
Frankly. I find this place vapid now. I don't miss the strife, but
without real discussions about issues, what's the point of having a
discussion group?


Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
Allow me. There are blogs and other groups where commentary is not
only warranted, but invited.

No, please allow me:

Harry, talk boats. Or shut up. We know that you can talk
boats if you want, the choice is yours.

It's true that there are other places on the WWWeb where
political comments & discussion (and a fair amount of
name-calling) is appropriate & welcome. But it's silly to
drag a huge amount of politically motivated bickering &
butt-biting into a boating forum.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
... Here, the only "discussions" were
related to who insulted who and why - there wasn't any real discussion

That's not true. There was a certain amount of real
discussion going on. I actually learned a fair amount and
followed a number of interesting links.

- just a lot of hootin' and hollerin' and posting "articles" that
everybody had pretty much read anyway.


Then how come every time I posted documentation of my
statements, a fair number of anti's always rose up in heated
disarray, proclaiming "it ain't so" even though they never
had any facts to indicate that it ain't? You did this
yourself several times, although you can see I'm not one to
hold a grudge.

.... The
past few days have been interesting - everybody has gotten along and
everyone has had fun and maybe even learned something along the way.

I much prefer this as it is. The volume is down, the language is
normal and things are just fine.


I agree. The last few days have been a big improvement. It's
obvious that the offenders can use self-control *if* they
choose. Perhaps with the right kind of encouragement from
the rest of us, they'll continue to exercise that self-control.



What has interested me is that there have been several attempts to
initiate combat, but they have been rejected soundly.


Perhaps.

Frankly, I see this thread as the first feeble stirrings of
the next round. Just wait and see.

Regards
Doug King

On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 10:41:22 -0500, "Reggie Smithers"
wrote:

5 days ago Chuck proposed we make some reasonable changes in rec.boats.

I have found a kinder and gentler rec.boats to be a vast improvement from
where we were. If we are going to attract more regulars to discuss boating
issues, we need to make sure we don't chase them away after one visit.
Chuck's proposal is a start in the right direction.

I would like to propose we extend the challenge for the next 30 days.

As Chuck said:

During this period of time, I propose that the group of worst
offenders, self included, take the lead in this challenge by doing the
following things.

1. Refrain from launching any sort of political or religious thread.
2. Resist name calling and put personal feuds aside.
3. Resist the temptation to respond to any political threads trolled
through the NG
4. Launch a minimum of two boating-related threads (not required of
non-boaters)


I'm in.
--
John H

**** May your Christmas be Spectacular!****
*****...and your New Year even Better!*****

On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 10:56:18 -0500, " JimH" wrote:

Why do we have to keep proposing a deadline at all?

Let's just keep it going the way it is now.


"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
5 days ago Chuck proposed we make some reasonable changes in rec.boats.

I have found a kinder and gentler rec.boats to be a vast improvement from
where we were. If we are going to attract more regulars to discuss
boating issues, we need to make sure we don't chase them away after one
visit. Chuck's proposal is a start in the right direction.

I would like to propose we extend the challenge for the next 30 days.

As Chuck said:

During this period of time, I propose that the group of worst
offenders, self included, take the lead in this challenge by doing the
following things.

1. Refrain from launching any sort of political or religious thread.
2. Resist name calling and put personal feuds aside.
3. Resist the temptation to respond to any political threads trolled
through the NG
4. Launch a minimum of two boating-related threads (not required of
non-boaters)



Agreed.
--
John H

**** May your Christmas be Spectacular!****
*****...and your New Year even Better!*****

On 24 Dec 2005 10:55:06 -0800, wrote:


Harry Krause wrote:
Doug Kanter wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I sorta agree. The reason why I started posting political stuff here
is cuz others would not refrain from it, a lame excuse I know.
Furthermore, political sites are so overcrowded that ones ideas get
lost. I'll go along with this embargo of politics.


At least here, the audience is somewhat finite. If the discussions didn't
descend into obnoxious bull****, some were actually interesting. Look at
some of the longer ones, and if you can, imagine what they would've been
like if 80% of the messages didn't involve some ****** complaining about a
boat that Harry may or may not have owned. Or, Scupper dropping anti-semitic
remarks.




Frankly. I find this place vapid now. I don't miss the strife, but
without real discussions about issues, what's the point of having a
discussion group? I mean, how many times do *you* want to discuss
battery chargers?

It's certainly possible to have discussions without the pig-piling and
personal insults. I don't see why anyone here should take it personally
if I refer to a certain national political figure as a lying,
intellectually lazy, worthless piece of crap, or I think that huge,
heavy sports cars are a contradiction in terms.


Harry, the theme of the group is supposed to be the discussion of
things related to boating. If you find the discusssions "vapid", then
perhaps you might consider either contributing some boating related
content or spending more time on one of the thousands of political feud
and flaming groups that proliferate on the internet. The fact that the
majority of people on rec.boats are voluntarily refraining from posting
inflammatory crap
means that the majority of people would prefer not to see it here. If
you're looking for
a daily political brawl, there are plenty of them elsewhere to choose
from.

Describing a "certain national political figure" as you just did is one
reasonably certain way to restart the name calling and the pig piling.
Give it a rest, please. This group doesn't exist solely for the
personal entertainment of 2 or 3 people, and none of us should treat it
as if it does.

And, it soon becomes more than just the name calling of a political figure. I agree,
we don't need it in the group.
--
John H

**** May your Christmas be Spectacular!****
*****...and your New Year even Better!*****

Harry Krause wrote:
Doug Kanter wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...

I sorta agree. The reason why I started posting political stuff here
is cuz others would not refrain from it, a lame excuse I know.
Furthermore, political sites are so overcrowded that ones ideas get
lost. I'll go along with this embargo of politics.


At least here, the audience is somewhat finite. If the discussions
didn't descend into obnoxious bull****, some were actually
interesting. Look at some of the longer ones, and if you can, imagine
what they would've been like if 80% of the messages didn't involve
some ****** complaining about a boat that Harry may or may not have
owned. Or, Scupper dropping anti-semitic remarks.



Frankly. I find this place vapid now. I don't miss the strife, but
without real discussions about issues, what's the point of having a
discussion group? I mean, how many times do *you* want to discuss
battery chargers?

It's certainly possible to have discussions without the pig-piling and
personal insults. I don't see why anyone here should take it personally
if I refer to a certain national political figure as a lying,
intellectually lazy, worthless piece of crap, or I think that huge,
heavy sports cars are a contradiction in terms.


There are other groups for other topics. The "issues" you refer to are
not on-topic for this group. If the traffic slows down, that's fine
since it will be on-topic Q&A related to boats, boat parts, boating, etc.

Your comments about political figures may, or may not, be taken
personally but they are off topic.

Dan

P. Fritz wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to be a trend in a several other NGs to go
political as well

That's actually good news. There will be a lot of appropriate forums
for the folks who just can't get enough name calling, bickering, and
flame throwing. If we maintain our self control (and thanks for your
portion of the improvement) rec.boats doesn't have to be about naming,
flaming, and political wrangling.

wrote in message
oups.com...

P. Fritz wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to be a trend in a several other NGs to go
political as well

That's actually good news. There will be a lot of appropriate forums
for the folks who just can't get enough name calling, bickering, and
flame throwing.

And inappropriate ones as well.

If we maintain our self control (and thanks for your
portion of the improvement) rec.boats doesn't have to be about naming,
flaming, and political wrangling.

We will see if it holds.........it would be nice if it does.

Paul,
We just need to stay away from tasty looking lures being trolled past us,
and take it one day at a time.


"P. Fritz" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...

P. Fritz wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to be a trend in a several other NGs to go
political as well

That's actually good news. There will be a lot of appropriate forums
for the folks who just can't get enough name calling, bickering, and
flame throwing.

And inappropriate ones as well.

If we maintain our self control (and thanks for your
portion of the improvement) rec.boats doesn't have to be about naming,
flaming, and political wrangling.

We will see if it holds.........it would be nice if it does.

Well, if a few of you gte doing it, I will never see them ;-)

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
. ..
Paul,
We just need to stay away from tasty looking lures being trolled past us,
and take it one day at a time.


"P. Fritz" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...

P. Fritz wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to be a trend in a several other NGs to go
political as well

That's actually good news. There will be a lot of appropriate forums
for the folks who just can't get enough name calling, bickering, and
flame throwing.

And inappropriate ones as well.

If we maintain our self control (and thanks for your
portion of the improvement) rec.boats doesn't have to be about naming,
flaming, and political wrangling.

We will see if it holds.........it would be nice if it does.