I received a nice email yesterday afternoon from one of our gentle readers, thanking me for the candidate information that I've included in our Weber County Forum sidebar. She'd just returned from the city recorder's office, she reported, having already cast her absentee ballot. She went on to say that she had cast her vote, at least in part, based on information contained in the WCF candidate roster section. So it would appear that my significant labors in establishing this informational feature are actually paying off.
In that connection I'll also note that I've added some additional informational sections, including critical 2005 Ogden municipal election dates and deadlines, as well as a link to a Weber County Clerk's web page, detailing important voter registration dates and procedures. I hope our WCF readers will find these features to be helpful.
If you have any questions about dates and procedures, please check out the information I've provided in the sidebar. In a similar connection, I'll also welcome suggestions as to the kinds of additional election information you'd like to see made available here.
On another note, I've finally succumbed to the continuing requests of some of our gentle readers to "ride herd" a little more closely on the discussions here. I suppose it's time that I did that, as we're now into day three of a little flame war that's been ongoing since early Wednesday morning. This action really goes against the grain for me, as I'm a zealous advocate of unrestricted free speech. Recent developments have unfortunately demonstrated, however, that there are always a very few individuals who will push a "good thing" to its limits, thus ruining it for everyone.
I've thus composed off the top of my head a written list of prohibited conduct, which I've labeled Comment Posting Policy The provisions of this policy will be in force from here on out. Words cannot express how personally distasteful it is for me to be compelled to do this. Nevertheless, I've put far too much energy into developing this site to allow it to deteriorate into the condition of a Yahoo chatroom late on a Friday night. Having said that, I'd also like to emphasize that the conduct of the vast majority of the posters here continues to be civil and decorous. It's only two or three individuals who seem to be causing the problems here. They know who they are, and so do I.
I've also added a link to this forum policy document to the right sidebar, for the future reference of folks who wonder why their posts may have suddenly disappeared. This will be my last comment on this subject. This is not a topic which will be open to discussion.
Thank you very much.
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3 comments:
Bravo, Rudi.
I'm also glad you did this, rudi. Something occurred to me that made me realize this may go far beyond just basic bad manners.
I thought----what if....this is a way of driving people out? A sort of childish ploy wherein some on one side of a question deliberately make themselves so obnoxious that people with the opposing view don't want anything to do with them? And so those people leave because they can't stand the attacks and rudeness and do not want to engage in that sort of behavior themselves.
What happens?
Ask yourself--When that happens, when people are driven away by these behaviors, who holds the field?
The rude and obnoxious who indulge in personal attacks, that's who. The people who would rather attack than discuss, the people who come from emotionalism, the people who, by displaying these various negative behaviors, bully their way into whatever they want. They're the only ones left.
All those who believe in intelligent, courteous discourse, who know how to debate with mutual respect, and who do not want to brawl, are gone.
Thanks for not letting that happen here.
Good thought, Dian. I wonder if that is part of the equation? The result, however, would also include they're advancing a negative connotation to their team and what that team represents. It can backfire on them, bring nothing but discredit to LOC and their entire concept and goals. I notice that already Bob Geiger's post was answered with barbs about who his bunch is letting be their spokespeople.
These people are lquickly recognized for what they are and have plenty of space available to them on the other blogs.
Good work, Rudizink!
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