http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88oiTnPrN7c

-------------- Original message --------------
From: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>

> At 12:19 PM 1/3/2009, Allan Streib wrote:
> >I think lists like this are more than just knowledge resources, they are
> >a community of sorts and as such we need to allow (within reason) some
> >amount of more "social discussion".
>
> 'Zackly. This list has shown great discretion and wisdom in avoiding
> and quickly squashing political topics; in instantly ejecting the
> heater expert and unregenerate Nazi when he showed his colors; and in
> maintaining a civil tone. But in my experience over ten years or so
> it has always been a social list, not strictly a technical one, and I
> don't think the relative amount of "off-topic" posting has changed
> all that much over that time.
>
> There has always been a certain tension between the folks who want a
> strictly focused and/or all-technical list, and those who like myself
> consider the list an avenue of friendship and contact among a
> like-minded community scattered across the country and to some extent
> around the world. I believe this tension has served the list well,
> keeping it to a middle path. I think that (judging by behavior) Ron
> Lussier and Tom Carrington were of similar mind, and that Jim Arnott,
> though restrained in his actions, was/is very much of the
> highly-focused philosophy, and trying to keep a middle road has taxed
> him severely.
>
> I personally was dismayed by both the tone and content of the
> "charter" recently imposed, though I understand the frustration that led to it.
>
> The subaruvanagon list is a good example of a highly focused list,
> and it works well. It is a technical list concerned with suby engine
> conversions into vanagons, and anything else is decidedly off-topic;
> and the line is sharply and consistently drawn by the moderator.
>
> With this list it has been more the case that certain subjects are
> absolutely off-topic and forbidden, and then there is a sort of
> sliding scale that centers on Vanagons and slopes gradually off in
> all directions from there -- I think this is appropriate. Vanagons
> are largely a state of mind of Vanagon-minded people, and they tend
> to have other interests and values in common, so it's natural for
> them to befriend each other.
>
> My two cents...
> David
>
>
> --
> David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
> '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"