From aol.com!dvdthomas  Tue Jan  7 11:55:09 1997
Return-Path: 
Received: by nizkor.almanac.bc.ca (Smail3.1.29.1 #8)
	id m0vhhc2-0003NrC; Tue, 7 Jan 97 11:55 PST
Received: from ngeout01.news.aol.com by nizkor.almanac.bc.ca ; 7 JAN 97 11:54:50 PDT
Received: from ladder01.news.aol.com (ladder01.news.aol.com [152.163.176.235]) by ngeout01.news.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id PAA23948 for ; Tue, 7 Jan 1997 15:01:14 -0500
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 14:56:03 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <19970107195600.OAA08379@ladder01.news.aol.com>
Newsgroups: soc.history.war.world-war-ii
From: dvdthomas@aol.com (DvdThomas)
Subject: Re: Virutal Holocaust Museum Online!
To: kmcvay@nizkor.almanac.bc.ca (Ken McVay OBC)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
References: <5alkt9$pib@nina.pagesz.net>
Status: RO

A statement to this group and its managers:

This is a moderated discussion group related to issues of WWII.  The
moderators decide whether posts submitted are sufficiently relevant,
non-commercial and civil to appear here.  If not, they are rejected.  I
had a message which referenced an URL for a one-of-a-kind publisher of
materials on Axis forces, which could be of great interest and use to
readers here.  The rejection noticed stated that the site was commercial,
and my post was rejected.  So be it.  This control element keeps the
discussion on topic, and prevents the kind of chaos which results in
unmoderated Usenet newsgroups with their spamming, commercial messages,
digression and personal attacks, creating all in all an often unsavory,
unproductive atmosphere.

A moderator for this group apparently decided that Michael Hoffman's
message had sufficient relevancy.  I can see how some might argue with
that, but it does concern events of WWII.

However, I see no justification at all for self-appointed moral watchdog
of the Internet Ken McVay's personal attack and slander on Mr. Hoffman
being permitted.  It does not concern WWII in any way, it concerns only a
sometimes mean-spirited conflict of opinion that approaches a religious
level in some cases.  The obvious derogatory tone of the post should have
been sufficient in itself to disqualify its appearance.

If this is establishing a precedent for the group, may I submit that it
can become quite contentious, as various people proceed to attack the
politics and philosophies of others they know and dislike, much to the
disinterest of the other participants and the detriment of discussions of
factual items.  I am not interested in whether the poster of a message
about fighter production in Russia is a flaming communist, or a former
Hungarian freedom fighter with an axe to grind regarding communism.  Nor
do I care about the religions, sexual preferences, or any of the various
personal philosophies of participating correspondents.

The rules that govern this group are simple and easy to understand and
implement.  They should be followed without exception.  This is even more
important in cases where there may be a connection with the exception and
the management of the discussion group.  Special privilege is rather more
onerous than simple mistakes in procedure.

Thank you for considering these views of a participant who is quite
willing to abide by the rules referenced.

Yours sincerely,
David Thomas 

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor