Having watched the board for years now,
I think it’s innevitable that there will
be tiffs–people have strong feelings
on some issues, sometimes folks are in
a bad mood, some just like to scrap.
Eliminating heat is unrealistic, maybe
even undesirable, and I think there may
be a way to help the heat make for more
light and less unhappiness. The main
thing is to avoid the combo of heat
and confusion. For what
they’re worth, some suggestions:
We cannot deal with several volatile
issues at once–they get run together,
people misunderstand each other, and off
we go. It’s best to do volatile issues
one at a time, e.g. one per thread.
Example: after 9-11 a well meant petition
was posted which included about five
controversial issues as well as some
less controversial ones, e.g. we shouldn’t
nuke Afghanistan. Setting aside for a
moment the reasonable complaint
that this board isn’t for political petitions, a problem was that people
who said they didn’t want to sign the
thing (because they objected to the
controversial part) were responded to
as though they wanted to nuke Afghanistan.
It’s better for controversies (non-political,
I agree) to happen one at a time, to
separate them.
Related: it’s helpful if the issue is
defined clearly enough that we can
actually engage it.
No innocent bystanders should get
whacked. In the floral thingy thread,
the individual who posted the aggrieving
whistle was inadvertently zinged
by objections to such whistles. This
made it harder to consider the objections
on their merits, because some of us
were defending the poster (without
necessarily realizing it). Two issues
run together–how we treat posters,
collecting vs. playing. Three: high-
end, low end. Confusing.
It’s best not to blindside people.
Years ago on a thread where people were
crowing about their new Abells or whatver,
I broke in in the middle to point out that
children are starving to death in the third
world and it’s really a mistake to spend
money on whistles you don’t need when
you could use it to save their lives!
Mistake! Blindsided people are going to
think ‘Why are we being ambushed?,’
not about the issue–almost innevitably
they will react in a confused and
defensive way, and off we go. (Fortunatley
they ignored me.)
Emphatically this doesn’t mean that the
issue raised is necessarily a bad one,
but it gets confusing when it’s raised
in this way. An option is to separate it
by starting another thread devoted to
it. Then people are more likely to approach
it with their wits about them.
I think it’s plain that the best way
to sort issues out is to start new
threads devoted to them. Peter Laban
just did this quite skillfully by
plucking one of several issues
out of the floral thingy thread
and making it a thread of its own,
in a well defined way, too. Great
thread, I learned all sorts of stuff
about fiddles and also that the
whistle is my voice.
Obviously as soon as you take a
personal swipe at someone, or at those
cheap whistle fanatics, or whomever,
things are going to go wrong. Also,
if I may, the truth is occasionally
obnoxious and spoken by weirdos, so
pointing out that the poster is a
sleazly slimy varmint is beside the
point, cause s/he may still be speaking
the truth. Of course we all know that
already.
I think a little attention to process
can help make the difference between
the occasional honest struggle between decent
people over something worth the trouble,
and a confused brawl unworthy of the
considerable intelligence of those involved.
I think if you’ve gotto fight, best
to fight like a warrior. And anybody
who just likes chaos and confusion for
its own sake, please come to St. Louis
and spar with my wife. I can use a break!
Hard to add anything except whole-hearted support! You’re right on.
BTW, jim, and you’ll pardon me. Do you realize that you don’t have to hit carriage-return when you get to the end of the woefully small box that you type your posts into? It auto-warps and the result looks a little less like the newspaper columns that you post.
Not exactly a rule of engagement, but I might add one of the first rules of netiquette:
Please read the posts for a week or so before posting, or read posts back a few pages. It’s quite likely that the answer to your questions is there. Or at least AN answer.
Overall, I think this is a very well-behaved board.
Charlie
[ This Message was edited by: chas on 2002-03-01 19:24 ]
Thanks to all. I think my computer is doing it automatically–no, I guess you’re right, the auto return happens later.
I don’t know much about boards but I think it’s true that this one is well behaved. Geez, the internet is sort of like the Wild West. Also I think I’ve started hitting carriage return again, or maybe I haven’t or maybe… Anyhow we have great moderators and lots of really fine people, for which my thanks.
My strategy on a board or list I’m new to is to “lurk before you leap” for a while, then find a thread that seems to be populated by cool people and dip a toe into the water. You soon find out if you’re welcome or not.
Of all the boards I visit or frequent this is one of the least aggro and definitely the least elitist. A nice community to belong to.
The M-16 is a magazine fed, 5.56mm Selective fire weapon. Made mostly of Bakelite. It can fire Single shot, or 3 round bursts, this weapon is currently issued to all military units.
I certainly agree with your well thought out suggestions. Thank you for sharing them with the community.
Regarding your carriage returns - I always thought that you were just writing poetry. Now I’m used to it; it has become something like your voice. I instantly think, “Oh, that must be Jim.”
Thanks again for your post,
Erik
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2002-03-02 17:00 ]
Gotta blind side you on this one… actually they issue UZI’s (or the small automatic equivalent) to special MP units in the army. Folks that guard the Generals, etc.
jim: Keep on writing you poetry if you like. I just thought you might have missed that carriage return thing. I wouldn’t want to deprive Erik.
Great board. So great in fact that I think I have to list the chiffboard with my obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns, right alongside whisteling, stamp-collecting, and Monster Truck racing.
Gotta blind side you on this one… actually they issue UZI’s (or the small automatic equivalent) to special MP units in the army. Folks that guard the Generals, etc.
Erik
Erik,
I belive you’d be referring to the HK MP5 series weapons. Pretty standard issue to many of the special units. M-16’s are way too clumsy for close quarter engagements - can’t swing one of those things around very easily indoors, plus you wouldn’t want to be discharging rounds that’ll penetrate several walls and take out staff or civilians 3 rooms away…
Loren (And no, I don’t own a single article of camo clothing purchased from the army surplus store)
On 2002-03-02 09:19, Bloomfield wrote:
Tony: :roll:
Geez, man. I get that from my wife all the time. Now, I wouldn’t say that if I were married to Jim’s wife.
Tony
And, Loren, I’ve alway pictured you in camo fatigues, smoking a cigar.
On 2002-03-02 04:40, Graphics Guy wrote:
The M-16 is a magazine fed, 5.56mm Selective fire weapon. Made mostly of Bakelite. It can fire Single shot, or 3 round bursts, this weapon is currently issued to all military units.
Will Mike Burke still make one for me, and what is the waiting list like?
I had to pass two years of ROTC to graduate
college–it was required of all men at
the university I attended. As it was
the late 50s, we drilled with M1 rifles.
As I couldn’t drill worth a damn, I kept
getting demerits, which I worked off
by cleaning M1 rifles. Gee, did I get
to know M1 rifles. My freshman year was
like being in the Army. We had to
assemble machine guns, too. Nothing quite
like coming from a class on Emily Dickinson’s
poetry to another one where there’s a
45 caliber machine gun on your desk–
not for target practice or deer hunting.
The worst fear was M1 thumb, which
happened if, upon presenting arms and
opening the bolt–which involved pushing
your thumb into the magazine–you failed
to get your thumb out fast enough when
the bolt snapped shut. I couldn’t pass
ROTC and finally transferred to
another college. But at least I survived.
I figure if I’d gone through all that
with an M16 I wouldn’t have enough fingers
left to play a whistle!
An old friend of mine from the teams,Now works for a newspaper (I forget which one)
His shtick is as an advice columnist, No matter what question he is asked, He replies
with stuff like I posted, For instance, My boyfriend/Girlfriend went on a business trip,
yada yada yada…His reply, would be something like, The M-14 is a gas operated Automatic weapon yada yada yada.
When I saw the topic “Rules for Engagment”
I couldnt resist, Sorry ..I know it was lame
But hey..It was 3 in the morning here,errr
The Moon was full…ummmm I was the victim of C.I.A. Hallucinogenic Drug testing. YEAH
There ya go
On 2002-03-02 23:44, jim stone wrote:
I had to pass two years of ROTC to graduate
college–
not for target practice or deer hunting.
I couldn’t pass
ROTC and finally transferred to
another college.
Gee, Jim. I thought I was the worst ROTC student ever. I won’t get started on all my tales but one ended with “Mr Kendall, you’r shooting at the wrong target” being announced on a loudspeaker. But I wasn’t shooting at the wrong target. That just happened to be the one I hit. I never heard of anybody actually flunking though. That’s great.
You’re right on.