Re[2]: [atlarge-discuss] Re: WG-DNS name protection

["W. E. (Ted) Murray" <Fred@knowcon.ca>]

Saturday, October 19, 2002, 12:01:25 AM, you wrote:

Please people.  Don't you realize that, as dysfunctional as this
attempted "at Large" is, acknowledging and responding to Jeff Williams
only further hijacks the agenda?   Many have recommended that his
contributions be filtered and I strongly endorse this.  Let Jeff spew
his inarticulate pontifications (cripes, now I am falling into the
trap :-( but ignore them.  Judyth/Chris/Michael/et. al. do any of you
seriously believe that you can "win" an argument with Mr. Williams?
Think again as his ability to foment inconsequential dialogue appears
to be unending. 

I have "left" this community several times out of disgust, returning
occasionally to see if there might yet be "life".  Yes, one could argue
that "life" only comes with individual sacrifice.  However I, like
most of you, have sufficient obligations and dedications now which
garner my attention and which make further volunteering contingent
upon seeing at least plausible accomplishment.  This is not a rant
folks but what I suspect to be a perspective shared by many.

This discourse around "Texas", like so many other Jeff Williams
induced "monologues", does little to retain members and most certainly
does absolute disservice to the mission of attracting new
participation. 

Can we get back to David's proposed by-laws and substantive issues
that provide focus to working group efforts?

              Be seeing you ...... Ted.

eesn> At 12:52 -0700 2002/10/18, Jeff Williams wrote:
>>  Where might such a place like you mention, be Judyth?  I would like to >move there if it actually exists!  But of course this is just BS isn't it?  
>>Nice try Judyth, no cigar though...

eesn> Try heading north of the 49th parallel. Lots of your fellow-Americans do!
eesn> No BS -- "peace, order, and (sorta) good government" if you disregard the graft that politicians do everywhere. Low crime, public schools hurting for money don't need to spend it on armed
eesn> guards and security cameras, and you can walk anywhere but a handful of streets in the whole country at any hour of day or night. (Heck, we even know how to count ballots!) 

eesn> Yes, taxes *are* higher here but we get well-lighted streets, decent education, and better, more accessible health care for it. Yes, our social safety net is rather strained thanks to incessant
eesn> pressure from south of the border. But no, we haven't exchanged the rule of law for the "right" to settle our differences with bullets, and we don't intend to.

>>Good citizenship requires good healthy knowledge of the truth, not 
>>wishful thinking.  This is of course not ever to say that
>>wishful thinking is not useful as part of good citizenship, it is. 
>>But dealing with reality is a far more important element of good >citizenship...

eesn> Indeed it is. Democracy functions well only when the citizenry is well-informed and can vote rationally on the issues. That's one reason it's important that all citizens be as well-educated, as
eesn> aware of their civic responsibilities, and as able to access information as possible. It's also one reason we Canadians place such emphasis on issues like Internet access for all, citizen
eesn> participation in public hearings and online consultations, involvement in intergovernmental bodies, and the pursuit of social justice at home and abroad.

eesn> Maintaining democracy is *hard work*, as the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence knew. It's not just hard on elected representatives and appointees but also on the citizenry which
eesn> must be vigilant to keep them honest and responsive. 

eesn> Different states seem to foster this approach to different degrees. I apologize for the cheap shot at Texas -- Lord knows it applies every bit as much to Florida (where I have family, too) and
eesn> other states -- but you can consider us up here in Canada as a sort of extra-large, extra-snowy version of Vermont [;-)] where there never were any gunslingers and there's a strong tradition of
eesn> rational argument in and out of the courts.

eesn> Maybe that's why I tend to grow impatient when people make ill-informed comments or try to reduce democracy to mudslinging in environments like this.

eesn> Regards,

eesn> Judyth

eesn> ===

eesn> Extract from a review of Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine"
eesn> by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
eesn> <http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/corp-focus/>

>>[snip]
>>In one scene, Moore, a lifetime member of the National Rifle
>>Association, goes to door to door in Toronto, Canada, doesn't knock, and
>>just walks in.
>>
>>Apparently, in Canada, many people don't lock their doors.
>>
>>This in a country, Canada, where there are 7 million guns for a
>>population of 33 million.
>>
>>But in Canada there are fewer than 400 gun deaths a year.
>>
>>In the United States, we hit 400 in two weeks -- that's 11,000 gun
>>deaths a year.
>>
>>In the U.S., eight children under the age of 18 are killed by guns in
>>America every day.
>>
>>Moore raises a disturbing question: if it's just the guns, stupid, then
>>how come Canadians are not slaughtering themselves the way we are
>>slaughtering ourselves?
>>[snip]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
W. E. (Ted) Murray  -  KnowCon Inc.  (Knowledge Consultants)
              Voice:  (613)833-3194  or  (613)795-1353
                      Email:  Fred@knowcon.ca        


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