[PEN-L:6820] spamming

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am sorry to see that the relationship is becoming personal.  My concerns
about Shawgi were, in part, because his posts were leading to a great deal
of personal animosity within pen-l.  We are weak enough, that we do not
need to be attacking each other.

Israel, in particular, seemed to be too sensitive for us to discuss in a
mature fashion.  I might add that some of the personal mail I have
received has attributed it to male behavior, rather than maturity.

Here is the problem from my standpoint.
Many people have complained about the quantity and the quality of Shawgi's
posts.

The quantity could be handled if Shawgi would consolidate his postings to
send 1 mega post per week or maybe 3 per week.  I think that the style of
his posts would be more suitable to a newsgroup on usenet, maybe
misc.activism.progressive.  I have had some people tell me that Shawgi's
posts incline them from unsubbing.

Some feel compelled to leave because of the quantity of posts -- not just
Shawgi's.  In fact, overload is the most common cause of exit.

Some feel negatively toward Shawgi's style.  I cannot see any way to
moderate anyone's style on pen-l.

Finally, some write Shawgi off as a Stalinist.  Even if Shawgi declared
himself to be a Stalinist, I would not see that as a reason for expulsion.

Now, to the list itself.  The fact that Shawgi's defenders made themselves
known only after the fact, tells us that we need MORE input from some very
valuable lurkers, and probably less from some of us more exuberant folks.

I hope that Shawgi will be more considerate of the list.  Some of his
postings go over matters that are relatively well known.  I will hope that
he can combine his posts so that the numbers subside.

As for the rest of us, I hope that we can rein in our hostility and
restrain our hostility.

Come on now.  Let's get down to work.
 --
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 916-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx