[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
No, this flame war was started by an individual that had to add political flame-baiting to simple pictures of an event. You know, it is possible to either refrain from political commentary, or keep the commentary to the photos. As I mentioned, this was not a hated dictator that died. Controversial maybe, but not to the level that should provoke the unecessary rant that it did. Political flame-baiting does not belong in a forum such as this, it merely provokes long angry threads such as this one, and have no positive outcomes that I know of.Hey Gonz,
Talk to the flamers, not me. When people start making claims about Reagan being a good president, etc. etc. then it is only normal that those who disagree with that statement will voice their opinions too. For what its worth, I was saddened to hear of his death too, even though I didnt agree with his policies.
On the subject of the GFM (supposedly named due to the age of the atendees? [joke]), I was/am fine with the GFM chatter, even if it didnt have anything to do with Pentax, which it didnt. Was just lots of back scratching. Maybee the event did but the chatter on this board didnt. In any event I dont think the atendees have any special powers or priveledges on this list regardless of how big they are, if that is what you are suggesting. Or do they?
Well, one of them sets up/hosts the PUG website, another maintains this very list. So I guess at least one of them has the special power to take you (or me) off this list. ;) But I wasn't making any reference to their "importance" or "special powers/priveledges". I merely said that they are a big part of the list, i.e. they contribute alot, in photographic wisdom, wit, helping newbies, etc. There are many other big contributors to this list that were not able to attend GFM.
What is going on with you anyway? You seem to bitch about topics not being very related to Pentax, yet you embroil yourself in many flame-war topics such as the stupid Windows OS war you got so worked up about, now this. If you are sooooo into Pentax, then please post some on topic threads and redeem what little you have left of yourself in this mail list. From what I hear, many people have automatically deleted your postings already, that didn't have to happen.
BTW, how old are you anyway? I have a theory that age has something to do with the probability of being at odds with members of this mail list. Many of the members here are older, and some of the contributors that get embroiled in these flame wars seem to be socially awkward, possibly due to age/immaturity? There are exceptions of course, I know of a few contributors here that although young, have a knack for social interaction and get along fine here. The internet/email/lists seems to make it easy to get to the point of "I'm 7'1", 350 pounds and I could kick your butt, asshole", whereas in real face-to-face settings people in general would require alot more to get to that level.
A.
On 11 Jun 2004, at 16:45, Gonz wrote:
Reagan was a President. He is dead. He was not a dictator, so his death should not provoke that level of response. The country is mourning his death, much as it did when Kennedy and Johnson died, who were of opposite political parties. These pictures were not of Reagan in a political rally or the Republican Convention, which I agree could provoke a political flame war. I was saddened and mourned for the death of all three presidents that I mentioned, so that makes me a right wing bigot as one poster has declared just because myself and others asked him to keep political discussion and vitriol out of this list?
In addition, many of us who did not attend GFM and really wanted to go, wanted to hear as much as possible about the get together, it being one of the largest Pentax afficionado gatherings in recent history. Just because they are not talking about photography and cameras does not make it inappropriate for the Pentax discussion mailing list. They ARE a big part of the PENTAX discussion list, in case you haven't noticed.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Antti, the GFM may have been a photo meet, but not many of the posts here had anything to do with photography or pentax. As to the rest of your comments I think that the list should not censor peoples reactions to photos that are posted for feedback. In this instance the photos were of a politician, a controversial one, and the comments have reflected that. If someone posts a religious picture then you will no doubt get reaction to that too. Remeber, the photographer is never outside of what he/she photographs., A witnness is part of the scene. And good photos like Toms evoke reactions.
I do agree with your comments about the languaged being used by a number of the posters though, particularly Bob S and William Robb, although they are not alone. There is no need for it.
Antonio
On 11 Jun 2004, at 16:11, Antti-Pekka Virjonen wrote:
And here I thought GFM had everything to do with photography and especially Pentax... the ultimate list member get together ? I for one have been pretty entertained when reading about it (here in Finland). Maybe I will have the opportunity to join one year.
Please understand I am not writing this to any single person on our usually very friendly mailing list. Everyone should at least think about this for an odd second before throwing himself/herself into a mindless flame-battle.
I am a ham (amateur radio) and we have strict rules of never discussing politics or religion on the air. This has been the rule for tens of years and it works. I wish the people on this list could also go along these lines and remember there are people from dozens of different nationalities on this worldwide list. If every one of them will start writing and yelling their opinions we can say goodbye to on topic discussion for good.
Everyone is entitled to their own opition but please could you discuss politics and religion on the more appropriate places (like private e-mail or a dedicated mailing list). If you must discuss it in here, please do it in a civilized way and not act like a bunch of kids who all have had their lollipops stolen 5 seconds ago...
And finally, I am sorry if I have upset anyone by saying these things.
Thanks for listening and I hope you all have a good weekend and many photo opportunities, Antti-Pekka
--- Antti-Pekka Virjonen Computec Oy, Turku Finland Gsm: +358-500-789 753
www.computec.fi * www.estera.fi
-----Original Message----- I loved hearing about them too - although none had anything whatsoever to do with photography by the way. Antonio
