I posted this on the other thread in response to a post by Ally. I am for now lifting all the bans. If anyone is the target of an offensive post, please do not respond. It will only result in both of you geting banned. I promise I will take care of the problem quickly.
To:Ally who wrote (13627)
From: qveauriche Saturday, Aug 25, 2001 9:29 AM
Respond to of 13629
I started the thread because this one had disintegrated into the cyber equivalent of the Balkans. I made it clear in the rules for participation that all opinions were welcome, but that personal attacks would not be tolerated.I have adopted a zero tolerance policy towards incivility because of the open and unrelenting hostility exhibited on this thread, and out of a concern that these tendencies would migrate to the new board. "Banning people as a last resort" in such an environment would insure that result.
Yuor view that the thread is intended as a safe haven for cheerleaders is a suspicion which I trust you will come to realize as unwarranted over time. You state that circumstances "prove otherwise", and yet you cite no factual circumstances having anything to do with the operation of the new thread. In fact, as Opus pointed out yesterday, I myself posted a concern on the thread over the lack of contract announcements in recent weeks.Also, I noted that we had a great discussion of some balance sheet items this past week, and both pro and con views were presented with no name calling. If memory serves me right, you were a contributor to that exchange. Since this company really is all about the balance sheet these days, it was great stuff for non-accountants such as myself.
Ally, I will admit being disturbed, if not exactly shocked, that some people would find Geraldo more educational than Firing Line. I am concerned that our way of debating our differences has evolved over the last few decades in a way that frays the social fabric. We see this in our political lives, as the philosophical chasm between those who genuinely believed that socialism would prevail and the defenders of capitalism did not prevent people from, on occasion at least,debating these differences in a collegial way. Today that chasm has shrunk to the point that the difference between Democrats and Republicans is little more than a few percentage points in the tax rate, and yet supporters of Al Gore and George Bush hate each other so much they could spit nails.Its as if the incivility with which we debate our differences has grown even as the true measure of those differences has shrunk.
You are certainly correct that I am no Frank Collucio, and I won't try to be. But no special expertise is needed to enforce the single rule that governs the thread.Only good manners and common sense.
As I think back over the reaction some have had to the new thread (including your post), it is apparent that some sincerely believe that it was set up as a cheerleader haven. Perhaps if I had read and followed all of the mean-spirited posts over here instead of merely being annoyed by them I would have been better able to predict this reaction.
Tell you what I'm going to do. As soon as I finish this note, I am going to lift the ban on Opus, Bo, and D. Chapman.I invite them to participate in the spirit in which the thread was founded. I will ban them again, as well as their combatants,if the fighting breaks back out. Perhaps we can heal some rifts over there (perhaps not). Which brings me to the issue of the longevity of the new thread. Nothing would please me more than for all who are interested enough in GX to post about it to start to get along in which case the thread will have outlived its usefulness.
A final disclosure, my SI postings have been largely confined to the QCOM threads, a stock I have owned since early 1996.If you look back at my posts you will see that i have occasionally lost my cool in the midst of all the CDMA/GSM standards wars. If This post sounds "preachy", that is not the spirit in which it is intended. I, as do we all, have plenty of warts. I think we all do better when we try to rise above them.
I have enjoyed your posts on this and the other thread, and I hope to see you over there again.
ting banned. |
