A response and a rant

[alyeskakc]

I was going to stay out of this but the more I read the angrier I 
get. I first joined the main list about 10 1/2 months ago, at that 
time it was just shy of 1200 members. I've seen it grow three fold 
since then. That goes for this list as well, only it's grown the same 
amount in 9 months time.

Over the past 4 or 5 months I've seen a very ugly change in HP4GU and 
the fandom as a whole. *Some*(not all)of the "newer than me members" 
have come in with a serious attitude problem and/or chip on their 
shoulder. They seem IMO to be hell bent on starting flame wars, 
posting for the sake of controversy, or just general whinging because 
they feel slighted in some way by someone. Personal attacks seem to 
be occuring more and more often it seems. It's really sad that 
something we all enjoy has come down to this petty and somewhat 
childish back biting. 

Rules and banned topics are there for a reason. I was there for the 
Abanes fiasco and let me tell you it was ugly on both sides of the 
fence, extremely ugly. John did apologized for bringing it up again, 
even in passing to prove a point. I was not part of the list when the 
US presidential election "debate" was going on but I can imagine what 
it was like and I don't even want to go to the holocost. 

These topics religion/politics may start with the best of intentions 
but they don't usually end up that way. People as a general rule can 
not remain wholely objective, personal opinion does get in the way. 
These are what I call *Hot Button* issues and they really have no 
place here. Yes even in OT. People tend to get very passionate about 
their beliefs and harsh words can be exchanged in the heat of the 
moment, even by moderators, we are all human and therefore not 
infallible. Everyone makes mistakes everyone has a bad day. Maybe 
something was said a little harsher than needed to be, and then again 
maybe it was the harsh words that finally got through after being 
said nicely a hundred times. 

I think John and Penny do a wonderful job keeping the peace on such a 
huge and diverse list as do the other 20 Moderators and List elves.

If you Mafalda have a problem with John or Penny why didn't you 
address them directly, in private? Why do it on list? Since you did 
it on list then why not do it under your own name instead of hiding 
behind this one? I checked the main list membership there is no 
MafaldaHopkirk there and according to the join date here in OT you 
joined 02/13/2002. 

You espouse about how people shouldn't be afraid to express their 
views here so why hide behind the veil yourself. Are you so ashamed 
of what you put out here that you won't put your name to it? If you 
and views want to be respected then don't hide behind a fake name.  
It makes you look like you just want to cause trouble. Maybe what 
Amanda said was rooted in some truth. 

No I am no part of the Mod Team and my views(and typos) are my own 
and I am not ashamed to use my real name.

Kristin