responses on responses; anonymity cloaks; deletions

[gwendolyngrace]

Well, I felt I had to come over here and do my share to pee on the
fire in an attempt to put it out....

First off, I want to repeat (or even iterate) some of what Amanda,
Amy, and others have said about the banned topics. If you are curious
as to why they are banned, by all means, please, Ask The Mods. That's
why the mods and elves are there--and most of them have been around
for at least long enough to know why the topics were banned. They can
tell you, just like your List Elf or any mod can tell you where to
find that line of Dudley's you've been trying to remember. Ask.
Please. Don't bottle up that curiosity like Harry!

Second, I think Kristin summed up the objection to "Mafalda's"
assumption of the cloak of anonymity, but I'm going to add to it a
little. It's not that she chose to post under a pseudonym that is a
problem--most of us do that. It's that she tried to convince the
members here that she is some sort of subject matter expert regarding
discussions and decisions made on the moderators' private list. IMO,
one cannot attempt to prove one's authority without backing up the
claim, either by telling the audience who you are and why you are
entitled to claim expertise, or by providing evidence that proves you
know what you're talking about. To do otherwise is to put on a show of
arrogance and bravado.

Third, Mahoney, it saddens me that you felt it necessary to delete
your post. From what I've observed, the mods don't tend to delete any
posts unless there is a clear violation of some part of the ToU, such
as copyright infringement, spam, or some other legitimate reason the
post should not exist. Yours was an expression of opinion every bit as
valid as Mafalda's original post: leaving aside some allegedly
specious content in her message, they both have a right to be a
permanent record of the dialogue and debate that keeps this group
alive. If you truly felt your post inappropriate, no one would have
stopped you from deleting it; but by no means did I feel it was
necessary. This group is not concerned with rewriting our history;
only with attempting not to repeat our mistakes by ignoring them.

Finally, I'd like to say something about shooting down other listies.
Yes, sometimes, I feel like I need hip boots on the main list. The
dreck that sometimes is bandied about on-list, whether serious or
silly, often boggles the mind. It can be extremely difficult not to
jump up and down, kick the computer, tear out copious amounts of hair,
and screech (or would we prefer to shriek?) "WHAT!!!? How can you
possibly conclude X from clues/facts/assumptions A, J, and Purple?"

Now, *usually,* thank heavens, there's enough else going on in life
that is more important, and one can let it go, ranting, as someone
else said, off-list or among smaller circles of sympathetic (or at
least understanding) friends. So the "Grrr" filled rant doesn't make
it to the list. Alas, none of us is always so calm nor so busy.
Occasionally a post hits and there's time to address it. Occasionally
someone forgets to let it sit for an hour or 6 before hitting that
Send button. And even then, sometimes the devil on one's shoulder
wins, grinning in impish glee even as one thinks, "Maybe I
shouldn't...." but sends it anyway. It happens.

I could grumble--a lot--about the redundant questions and "oh my gosh!
I just had this totally brand new thought about something I'm sure no
one has ever asked before!" posts that go on to ask, "So where does
Snape go?" or "Hey, has anyone thought that maybe Harry's the heir of
Gryffindor?" There are a number of points I want to add to the
treatment Sirius, Severus, Remus, and Lucius got on the list in the
past weeks. I could get myself worked up well and truly, and go on a
huge tirade and piss off just about everyone on the list, if I wanted
to. I could quite happily burn George in effigy and capsize every dang
kayak, dinghy, tugboat, schooner, catamaran, junk, sampan, canoe,
frigate, tall ship, and ocean liner in the vast HP fleet. But... oh,
why bother? If you ask me, we're all getting a little punchy just
*waiting* for something new to be revealed, and well, so folks are
blowing off a little steam, getting silly. Big deal. I've a feeling if
I'd been less busy in the last few weeks, I'd have found it much more
amusing. Hm, maybe I'm turning into a Curmudgeon in my old age!

There's precious little point to worrying about the occasional
screw-up--from whichever source. Nine times out of ten the situation
resolves itself quickly among the sparring members, or if necessary a
brief but effective Howler/virtual slap on the wrist does the trick,
and everyone's back to playing nice. We're all going to flash now and
then. The important thing to remember is to forgive and move on (and
note the transgression for blackmail material later--oops, was that my
outside voice?).

Gwen (who got on the mod list all by herself cause she's so cute. Oh,
okay. Fine. I'll tell the truth. I used Imperio.)