On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 05:36:36 GMT, WaIIy wrote:

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 00:26:37 GMT, Joe Parsons
wrote:

I have kept my own political views (and they are views that I hold dear) out of
this newsgroup--but if someone were to call me "light in the loafers" for being
a Democrat, or a "fascist" for being a Republican, I'd immediately lose interest
in any sort of participation here.

I don't think I'm alone in that respect.

Joe Parsons
FWIW

You are not alone. Around our marina, politics are spoken about very
little. Dissention is left away from our boats.

I spent the long weekend at the Stockton (CA) Yacht Club with our yacht club. I
got into a "political" discussion over a beer or seven with a long-time member
who's far away from me in his politics. As our discussion intensified (and got
louder), we stopped, looked at each other and burst out laughing. We *knew* we
wouldn't change each other's mind--but we realized that we were beginning to
lose sight of the fact that we were there to enjoy the river, the boats, the
company and the beer.

I've found that face-to-face conversations have certain "safety valves" that can
keep debates/arguments from getting too unpleasant. Usenet, with its
quasi-anonymity and lack of face-to-face contact, doesn't.

Joe Parsons