channels and responsibility

["Anthony J. Rzepela" <rzepelaa>]

In response to some PVT EMAIL, I wanted to clarify 
a point or two: 

1. I know what a "schmuck" is. I was doing a cheap 
   spelling flame. 

2. Re: my apparent agreement to the chorus of "kick Ed off". 
   That's not what I was doing when I "agreed" with Fiona.
   It was a setup to the joke in point #1. Let him stay, make him 
   go, I don't give a shit. All he's good for is a joke setup. 

   Except when he's quoted by someone else, 
   I don't see any of what he writes. (thank you, procmail!) 
   I really can't ask anybody else not to respond to him, since 
   that is their right, but it is getting to the point where 
   I may have to come up with some more complicated procmail 
   formulas, to kill content about him in addition to what's 
   by him. 

3. the same boat/free speech. 

   I really don't think the experience I had in August '96 
   and the current to-do are analagous. If you disagree, feel free
   to discuss it with me in PVT EMAIL. 

4. Responsibility. 

   As I've said to several people privately, I have more 
   kooks filtered out of my inbox via procmail from babel-list
   than any other list/source of email tension. Each entry is 
   always a measured and carefully weighed decision, and so in terms
   of accepting responsibility for reading/not reading things, 
   I've done something in that direction, rather than just stew in 
   an outrage. 

   STILL, it seems difficult for the topics to steer towards 
   PS and away from the little freak. If people want to voice their 
   view that this ugliness is driving the list into the ground, 
   that's their right. It's not a matter of feeling personally 
   assaulted by language or "allowing" oneself to be offended. 
   A forum can still get ruined by content you're not paying any 
   mind to. It's not a character weakness to decide that there's
   no place for name-calling. One could even argue that resorting 
   to "schmuck" is akin IRL to the "Fire in a crowded theater" 
   prankster. 

   
++Tony Rzepela (rzepelaa)