<html> <body> This is going along just fine.  Please see my other post about OT Summaries.  First, Richard B and Dave Stahl, I don't recall any  "decisions" being made about OT or political issues, though there has been a good deal of discussion.  If you recall the posts last week, at some point,  Andy Rudoff responded to my quote from "Cheers" (wanna go where they know your name, ect) as follows: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>This is an excellent point.  When someone posts an off topic joke to pianotech, they are often doing so because they know the people on pianotech and they think those folks will get a chuckle from what they post.  Sending the same content to some list provided by yahoo or MSN might make the message exactly on-topic, but you're posting to strangers</blockquote> I think anyone would have to admit that, while discussions regarding political issues are guaranteed to be disruptive and contentious, to completely disregard something as demanding of our awareness as these current events are, is unnatural.  I am not advocating for the presence of such posts on this list, per se, however, I find it disingenuous to censure Mr. Bernard for trying to find a way, within our list community, to express some deeply held feelings. He did, after all, designate it as "OFF-TOPIC".   Even on a parallel "OT" list, such as what I find myself advocating, such expressions would, undoubtedly engender heated discussions and raw nerves, as, beneath the commonality of our profession, we are quite a varied collection of creatures.  On such a list, we might ultimately find it desirable to further spin off a specifically political list, as vitriol might tend to overwhelm less contentious non-technical issues on the "OT" list, such as praising Tom Sheehan, or complaining about pictures being sent to the list. Keith - what I find interesting about your comments to Richard is that, while you are criticizing him for perpetuating an OT post on the list, you do so in a (lightly) demeaning way that almost guaranties that, not only will he be forced to respond (on the list), but the ensuing exchange could become an OT personal dispute, all by itself.  Given your closing, I am sure that was not your intent. Respectfully, and affectionately, David Skolnik, RPT Hatings-On-Hudson At 06:05 AM 3/26/2003 -0800, Keith Roberts wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>And as always, you comment about the comment. Which makes it an off topic post even if it's originally an on topic subject. Alan cc'd the letter, which still doesn't excuse him, and it doesn't appear to be a blatant OT post. Inappropriate, for sure, as this is an international list. So, while we are jumping on people for OT posts, Richard, it would be nice to have your name among the missing, for once, in association with an off topic thread. By the way, I do like your temperament tests on real, unsuspecting subjects, though I haven't commented about it till now. Peace between us. Keith Roberts <dl> <dd>----- Original Message ----- <dd>From: <a href="mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no">Richard Brekne</a> <dd>To: <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</a> <dd>Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 12:04 AM <dd>Subject: RE Politics...was something else. <dd><a href="mailto:Piannaman@aol.com">Piannaman@aol.com</a> wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite> <dd>Alan, <dd>Nice of you to think of our troops, and to suggest that we all do in kind, but I kinda thought we were keeping political stuff off the list. <dd>Dave Stahl</blockquote> <dd>I thought so too. As in no exceptions. As in because it can ignite all kinds of unsavoury utblowings. You can use your own list of mail addresses for this kind of thing by the way. Works great lasts a long time :) <dd>RicB </dl></blockquote></body> </html>