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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (36632)	5/2/1999 7:16:00 PM
From: jbe	Respond to of 108807

Penni, very thought-provoking questions. (You have the right paragraph, by the way, and the answer is: Neither. It disappeared of its own accord when the message was posted, down some black hole of the cyber universe. Strange...) On your final question, about just how serious is any of this (i.e., Emile's postings): I guess it is serious when someone takes it seriously. To put it another way: it is serious when it seriously offends someone, generally someone who belongs to the group being targeted. To put it more concretely: Farting is not, in itself, a serious offense. But someone who sits down next to you and deliberately lets loose is seriously offensive. I totally agree with Chuzzlewit that the anonymity of cyberspace permits people to be much more offensive (if they are so inclined) than they would dare to be in a face-to-face encounter. And I also agree that there is no reason why we should be more tolerant of rude behavior in a cyberspace forum than we would be in a face-to-face gathering. I also agree with you that in cyberspace communication behavior is sometimes perceived to be rude when, in fact, is not intended to be rude. So, I think, the response has to be tailored to the specific situation, in each case. There is no one "proper" response. You have to play it by ear (and you'd better have a good ear!). Sometimes it is best to ignore something; sometimes a PM may be better; sometimes a public rebuke; sometimes even recourse to SI Bob (although I have never tried that personally). It "all depends", as they say. Speaking of the specific case of Emile, I think my response (so far) has been fairly effective. You may have observed that all his posts on the Jews and the Russian Revolution were addressed to me, presumably because I am the resident Russian History "expert". My first response (back in December) went something like this: "Spare me. I'm not interested." That only provoked him to jeer about my weak historical skills. I did post several substantive messages on the subject - but to Steve Rogers, not to Emile. Eventually, I did post a short response to Emile, asking him to detail what his specific qualifications as an historian of the Revolution were. Instead of answering, he went away. He reappeared, in February I think, making the same pronouncements on the Jews & the RR. Steve Rogers and I pointed out that we had already gone over that in December, and that he should re-read the discussion (and my questions!) rather than start the whole thing up again. He reappeared yesterday (was it yesterday?) with more of the same. Again I asked him to answer my questions. Again he went away. He can't answer the questions about his qualifications because he knows he doesn't have them. I don't think he will go away if you simply "ignore" him. But I could of course be wrong. And maybe he only likes to make hit-and-run attacks, and would go away eventually anyway. (Although I doubt that: check the "Kosovo" thread, his latest haunt. One should never, ever try to engage with him in any serious substantive debate.) And he does have several -- maybe even more than several -- admirers on SI, believe it or not. Joan

To: Rambi who wrote (36632)	5/2/1999 8:38:00 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

<<I guess if I thought there was teeth in any of this, I would be more inclined to fight harder, object more vociferously. I do wonder what the 3D Emile does, what harm he inflicts, or is he just someone who spews forth here? How serious is any of this? Dunno.>> Isn't Emile a beekeeper? I remember that on X's old thread, he occasionally revealed a very different side of himself, a side I did not feel threatened by. Perhaps he uses SI as sort of a safety valve, spewing forth verbally, but not acting out in his real life. He may even have black and Jewish friends; we really don't know. I do recall that he ran for some local office in a southern state on a Eurocentric platform, though. Does anyone still have the information about that? Speaking of beekeepers, Ulee's Gold is an awesome movie about a beekeeper.