[Vision2020] Chas leaves V2020; Liberal Moscow Dead? How might V2020 be improved?

[g. crabtree]

I'm not sure that I understand the complaint. The V comes to one of my regular e-mail boxes. It takes maybe 20 min. tops (on a topic laden or contentious day) to read through and delete as required, usually less. Don't you have to go through the same thing and weed out Viagra come ons, investment "opportunities," and recipes for baklava? How does a few extra minutes spent here put a serious kink in anyone's day? Is the mere suggestion of a topic that might not be to ones liking in some way harmful? Does a little bickering between parties cause some folks to break out in a virulent case of the vapors? I would have to imagine that if what one sees on 2020 is too upsetting to a delicate constitution, a newspaper or a stiff dose of CNN, FOX, or even CNBC might just be lethal. I think we have heard this lament before. If we all post and debate as seriously and as sweetly as Jimmy Carter vs. Al Gore the V will be as dry and boring as Jimmy Carter & Al Gore. Better to kill the forum here and now then let that insipid and vapid outcome rear its humdrum head. The idea of modifying V2020 to suit the unhappy seems far more draconian then the unhappy suiting themselves, as best they can, with "bozo filters", averting their sensitive peepers, and the liberal application of the delete key. Or do what Chas has apparently done and take a little vacation in Mr. Roger's neighborhood. A ride on the trolley with Henrietta Pussycat and a little quiet time and I'm sure he'll be good as new. 

Best,
gc
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joan Opyr 
  To: Nils Peterson 
  Cc: Vision2020 Moscow ; Chasuk 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 10:08 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Chas leaves V2020;Liberal Moscow Dead? How might V2020 be improved?


  On Jul 26, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Nils Peterson wrote:


    And where is the Liberal Moscow blog? A V2020 alternative, announced in
    early June 2006. I looked in via the RSS and the last post is mid-June.
    Another corpse un-mourned, a better medium (blog + RSS) but no critical mass
    on the site.


  I can answer this quickly and succintly. The Liberal Moscow blog is not dead; it's only sleeping. (The Norwegian Blue likes to kip on its back.) Chas and I launched the site in a hurry, but we have not been able to take an active interest in it or work to promote it since mid-June. I'm on deadline writing the sequel to my novel, Idaho Code. The new book, From Hell to Breakfast, must be finished by the end of this month. Sometime in August, once I've caught my breath, I will (or, rather, Chas and I will) pull our respective selves together and get active on Liberal Moscow. We have kinks and bugs and RSS feeds to work out, but we will actively promote the site at that point.

  FYI, we see Liberal Moscow as a complement to Vision 2020, not a replacement. I was on the verge of giving up on this list some months ago. I am not posting very often, and I read very little of what is posted, but I still believe in the forum. It is too easily hijacked by unending bickering, nonsense, and malicious malefactors, but it's still a great source of news and information (verify first!) and I have made many friends here. I may take the occasional vacation from Vision 2020, but I will not leave.

  Joan

  PS: How might Vision 2020 be improved? Fewer dipshitacious posts; less tit-for-tat; more information of genuine community, national, and global relevance; thicker skins all the way around. And if you find you're sailing posts back and forth along the lines of Pee Wee Herman's "I know you are, but what am I?" then take it offlist. Easy enough, right? Wrong. I do it, too, but I'm lucky to have Melynda to kick me in the backside when I'm getting off-kilter.

  Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
  www.joanopyr.com




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