Politics & Religion
Further, the same could be said about other categories.
Did you know Sarah Palin used to work on a survey crew?
That statement could be categorized in Land Surveying, Politics, or even Fiction, for that matter. Maybe even Humor.
Here's a Rule of Thumb
> Aside from the correct category issue, you have offered a response that seems to be kindled in the politics range.
Well, the whole point is that some posters evidently feel obliged to post stuff that belongs in "Politics & Religion" in other categories and apparently are oblivious to why their discourse is political. The fact that a political post generated political discussion is exactly the reason why threads like this belong in P&R.
Is there something that is lost by keeping the P&R discourse out of the other categories? I'm thinking definitely not.
Wendell
I suppose when in doubt, create a "political humor" category. 🙂
Here's a Rule of Thumb
Kent...you are correct in some regards. Howver, how many times have we seen posts, which start out under the correct category, morph into something else? I'd say many times.
Politics & Religion
> A habit of using the wrong categories will revel a pattern and be more truthful than any words, then is the time to complain, but not until that pattern is clearly in place.
Yes, had we not seen how posts that clearly belonged in P&R consistently ended up in other categories on another message board, I'm sure that I wouldn't be so quick to recognize the inherent problem with presenting pro-[Teapartier] rhetoric as "Humor".
Here's a Rule of Thumb
> Kent...you are correct in some regards. Howver, how many times have we seen posts, which start out under the correct category, morph into something else? I'd say many times.
Well the category in which a thread is posted should be a good guideline to the appropriateness of a reply. In my view, maintaining the firewall between "Politics & Religion" and the other categories is the main object. Mixing "Humor" with "Land Surveying" isn't that problematic unless is it completely non-germane to the topic of the thread.
Other suggestions?
> Since I'm thinking that some posters probably don't have much of an idea about what constitutes political commentary, here are some simple guidelines. Your post most likely belongs in "Politics & Religion" if:
In an election year, it seems reasonable to me that there's a likelihood of political threads getting posted in other categories. I offered up some guidelines off the top of my head above as to how to judge whether a thread is political or not, but I'd be interested to know:
a) whether other posters generally agree that it is worthwhile keeping the "Politics & Religion" discussion quarantined in that category and
b) what criteria others think would provide an objective basis for judging whether a thread belongs in "P&R" in the first place.
Other suggestions?
In my mind, very simple - if it makes me laugh, it's humor.
By the way, I'm about as left as you can get and I thought it was very funny.
Other suggestions?
So, if it doesn't make you laugh it should be removed from the "Humor" category? No, the question is one of identifying a dominant political or religious content in a thread. The initial post in this thread only works with the word "politicians", so it is inherently political.
Other suggestions?
Like many surveying questions, it depends. Hard and fast rules do not apply to such a wide and diverse opinion base. You have your opinion, I have mine and they have theirs, that is our right.
I see I answered the wrong post again, Maybe I'll break the habit. Kind of like missing the category.
jud
Other suggestions?
Kent, this whole thread is becoming Pythonesque....we just need Graham Chapman to come along and stop the whole thing because it's just way too silly.;-)
Here's a clearer test
> Like many surveying questions, it depends. Hard and fast rules do not apply to such a wide and diverse opinion base.
Well, consider just the question of whether a post in the "Humor" category is essentially political and properly belongs in "P&R". Here's a simple rule that occurs to me.
If the joke :
a) involves elected officials who are alive or have been within the last fifty years (died after 1960), or
b) mentions political affiliation,
then it is most likely properly characterized as political in nature.
Here's a clearer test
Wendell,
Ask Paul in Pa and then do the opposite.
Here's a clearer test
Kent, I trust Wendell has it well in hand and will keep it within reasonable bounds. I take the view at this point that Steve is correct in his observation about this column of replies to the original post.
jud
Here's a clearer test
> I trust Wendell has it well in hand and will keep it within reasonable bounds.
Actually, I think Wendell would probably appreciate some sort of group consensus on the question. I doubt he wants to annoy posters unnecessarily, but he probably does want to maintain a site that surveyors visit and post to.
Ideally, the categories should be self-regulating. That is where simple rules come in, to help posters decide correctly.
Maybe a little different test
Now this thread is very reminiscent of the old rpls.com board. We have a post and we have an objection to the category the post is in. So then the debate begins as to why this can't be/isn't avoided. What do they call it, morphdrift? Or something.
I know this, I'm registered with four other 'boards' on the great www. Two of them exist for spouses of people suffering from various types of dementia. They are both heavily monitored and one of them have no categories or sub forums. Categories are never a problem at either one of those. Another is a board primarily for song writers and poets with multiple sub forums. Very seldom does a mod move a post to another category there. The last board I belong to is primarily slanted toward conspiracies and conspiracy theories. There are moderators galore there, but there are no categories or sub forums. You don't even have to be registered to post or reply. There is no censorship of language. And of all of them that one is THE most all around informative and thought provoking simply because it's not confined to just it's primary reason for existence. Actual news that is happening in the world will be posted there long before fox, nbc, cnn etc. reports it. One reason is because of the free wheeling openness that the site's owners tolerate.
My point is that, as always, it depends as to how this site or any other functions.
Wendell has his philosophy here and he is a nice enough kind of guy to listen to the people who post here. I really admire what he's done in such a short time. The problem with these sites come when individuals or "cliques" begin to complain about their individual or collective gripes about the site. You have to face the fact that nothing is everything to everybody all the time. Period. My thoughts are that the site is here for me as an individual to read or participate in as I feel. If it ever becomes something I don't care about any longer then I'll ignore it.
Just some thoughts of mine.
Take care,
Ed
Right Wing View Is Political - Left Wing View Is Truth ?
Representative government is alive and well in these United States.
Problem is, when a particular opinion happens to be in the minority, then you are out of luck.
Such has been the case with the far-right [teapartiers]. They presume to speak for the majority, yet they do not actually represent the majority.
When the extreme minority gains the power and imposes its will on the majority, that's known as fascism.
Maybe a little different test
> My point is that, as always, it depends as to how this site or any other functions.
Well, as you've pointed out, we've seen the movie before at a previous message board. It's not as if any of these questions are novel and a good many of the same posters are here. The question then is fairly simple. Should posts that are fairly characterized as mainly political, including of course political humor, be kept in the "Politics and Religion" category or not? I frankly see letting "P&R" off the leash to be a net loser for all concerned. If there is an argument that can be made to the contrary, I'd like to know what it is.
Ask Me What ?
I say any thread Kent replies to 13 times, needs to be studied in depth.
Obviously there is much he feels we can learn from it.
Paul in PA
Maybe a little different test
> > My point is that, as always, it depends as to how this site or any other functions.
>
> The question then is fairly simple. Should posts that are fairly characterized as mainly political, including of course political humor, be kept in the "Politics and Religion" category or not? I frankly see letting "P&R" off the leash to be a net loser for all concerned. If there is an argument that can be made to the contrary, I'd like to know what it is.
Don't get me wrong here, I see and understand your point perfectly. All I'm saying is that whether or not there's a p&r category here is up to the administrator of the site. How it is monitored or enforced or whatever is up to a combination of the administrator and the posters. Whether or not what results is acceptable to any individuals or cliques is up to them. I read stuff here and everywhere else around the www and either accept it, ignore it or read something else at another site. The ether is a big place. Some of it's worth our time and some is not. It's the way of the world.
Take care,
Ed
