Allow me to differ (the [OT] discussion) with Allan

Allan, whose PoV I respect, said:
Simple rule of thumb: if you have to label 
your post "[OT]" then don't post it...

[Tomb] Let me explain my disagreement. 
To my mind, anything not directly (ie 
making explicit mention of something from 
the setting or books) related to GZG 
products is OT on this list, given its nature. 
However, given the broad interest here in 
military technologies, space science, etc., 
posting stories that relate to that (or better 
yet, links so that people who don't want to 
see the stories don't have to... just a short 
link and it saves money/time for those who 
either pay for their mail or who like me get 
it over a slow dialup link) are in fact OT but 
still of interest. Otherwise why have the OT 
tag at all? If you never post anything OT, 
there is no point in the tag. But by my 
definition of OT, the material may be of 
general interest to this group while still 
being (in a strict sense) OT. 

The real trick I think is to recall that this 
list is of international character, includes 
gamers of many religions, ethnicities (I 
suspect, though it is a bit hard to know), 
nationalities, political views (from left to 
right and some we'd just call 'way out 
there'), etc. 

There is some small chance anything said 
will cause a kefuffle. But there are other 
matters which, if one takes a moment to 
think about it, one just KNOWS will provoke 
a heated response from someone. 

Everyone has a right to express 
themselves, but everyone should also have 
been aware of the nature of the list before 
joining (the nature of the list is identified in 
a number of places including 
http://www.stargrunt.ca/ref_info/gzg_maili
ng_lists/gzg_mailing_lists.htm as a 
reminder (the section on list ettiquette) ). 
Given that, one chose to join this 
community with that understanding, so it 
sort of behooves one to observe that 
nature or unsub. 

This isn't about free speech, it is about 
honouring an implicit agreement about the 
nature of this forum made by subscription. 
We aren't policed by the Gestapo and we 
certainly don't use jackboots on dissenters. 
But we generally, as a community, hope to 
keep the list focused and not cause hurt 
and mayhem. 

This is *not* (IMO) a forum for *any* kind 
of free speech, regardless of on what 
subject or what sentiment it expresses. It 
is a forum for discussion of GZG products 
and sci-fi gaming and the occasional 
related spin-off discussion. That's what you 
sign up for, so why try to make it 
something else? 

Anyway, I've said more than enough given 
the nature of the problem... *grin* ... and 
the Narns shall punish me. Unlike some 
Laserlights I can name, they're still 
effective on me....

Tomb
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Mr. Thomas Barclay
Software Developer & Systems Analyst
thomas.barclay@stargrunt.ca
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