A D O R E - L P O L I C Y L E T T E R APL NO. 5 of 14 NOV 1989 CONTENT FREE POSTINGS. When some people disagree with what I have to say, they call my postings content free. That they could not disagree with a truely content free posting seems to escape them. What they mean is that they think I am wrong, but if they said that they would leave themselves open to further argument and counter argument which they undoubtedly want to avoid at all costs. Thus they claim that I have not said anything, which effectively puts me down without having to materially counter anything. The postings that I made to DISARM-L and POLITICS-L were the most quality content filled postings I have made in my entire life. The view that I stated there over and over again was simply that war is a religious problem, born of religious views and prevailing religious insanities, and that with out an address to our past lives and our future lives we will never solve the criminal element in our societies that start and make wars and other wise ruin our lives. This view was totally unacceptable to 100 percent of the audience of DISARM-L and POLITICS-L and so it was called content free. In my view refering to these postings as content free is pure intentional evil and should be dealt with in a suitable manner. As I have no control over DISARM-L, I left. ADORE-L is a different matter. I have never bounced anyone from this list, although I have been sorely tempted. Unfortunately the longer I go with a perfect record the harder it is to break it arbitrarily. Further I am at odds with myself over bouncing people because I can not determine an absolute criteria by which a person should be bounced. Lord knows though that some should be. Most have left long ago. Also people tend to change. They may start off bouncable and then start to make intelligent postings. This has happened many times and I remember them well, so I am very hesitant to just can someone for a first or even second, third, fourth and fifth offense. On the other hand I must avoid at all costs getting caught up in the flame wars engendered by people who make postings that are truely 100 percent content free, yet who tell me mine are content free. These flame wars fill our mailboxes with efforts to defend myself against ridiculous charges and are a waste of time and cause other people to leave the list in disgust. The pattern seems to be that when ADORE-L is absent of the flame wars, which means only I am posting or intelligent exchanges are talking place the subscribership grows. When we start to get flame masters signing up berating me endlessly for what a bigot I am and I get involved in defense of my position we start to lose people. Probably if I just let these postings go and did not answer them, these people would get bored and leave as they have no serious intention on the list anyway. They just want to berate a moderator that has locked himself in with rules that say no one gets bounced. Of course there is always the fear that if I am silent on these attacks, that will be taken as defeat by those of you who are spectators. Silence is agreement, you know, the guy said something so right I just cant find the words to say anything back, or some such thing. Or it will be taken as a sign of fear that I can not defend myself, a sign that I am hoping the attacker will just go away and people will soon forget what he said and that I had no answer. Most of you are not that stupid. Those of you that are, good. My purpose is not to endlessly convince border line cases that I am right. If people like Karen can sway you into thinking I am a totally empty headed ego maniac, then one presumes that your head is emptier than mine. And hers. I am not going to take up bouncing people. But I am going to take up asking people to leave. My response to them after that point will be silence. You can draw your own conclusions. Those of you with any grey matter left will see the wisdom of my decisions. And ADORE-L will become a quieter and higher quality list. I need to avoid getting caught up in the flame wars with the pure assholes. Telling me my postings are content free is not the way to get on my good side, and it is no longer the way to draw me into further communication. Since the 50 Percent Rule is most often invoked to put down my 'content free postings' and is routinely broken in the process of doing so (note Karen's recent posting about DISARM-L), I hereby suspend all content to flame restrictions on this list. You may speak what you will, how you will. If I don't like you, you will be asked to leave. For me, you will be gone. Since I am the only attraction on this list to those people who would make noise, if I do not respond, they will leave or shut up and the rest of you will not have to be bothered by their and my mail in your mailboxes. Attila the Hun.