Gary,

I've not seen you around these parts until recently. Are you new to
austin.gardening maybe?

Can I let you in on a little secret only a true Austin gardener would know
and appreciate?

When it hits 90 degrees all day long, some Austin gardeners get sort a
cranky (and the Austin drivers even worse). Since this is USENET but
centered in Texas, we are real patient and neighborly and understand their
feelings and disgruntlement's since we are all in the same boat here.

The heat effects some more than others and that is just part of our bein'
neighborly and letting them blow off a little steam. But I will warn
you, this is only the beginning of an Austin, TX summer, so buckle up!

Best to Ya'll

in article , gary at
wrote on 5/19/03 10:43 AM:

Yes, I am being judgmental. It is my judgement, i.e., my opinion, that ad
hominem attacks and vulgarity are highly detrimental to newsgroup
discussions. I think such behavior tends to drive away most of the best,
most intelligent, posters while attracting immature types who use the net as
a way to take out their anger and aggression without any fear of reprisal.

Make no mistake about it -- "flaming" on the net is just another way for
people who do not know how to deal with their personal anger -- or, more
likely, even want to deal with it -- to relieve themselves by letting it out
on others. That is always a bad policy, in my book, no matter what the
medium.

On the other hand, there should be no reason for restraint in attacking
ideas with some modicum of civility, as distinct from personally attacking,
without civility, the people who hold the ideas.

I don't expect very many people to agree with me nor do I expect anything
from Usenet except a continued debasement. As for my posts not serving a
purpose, no post like this one or my previous ones on this subject serve
much real purpose except what the poster gets out of them. People are not
swayed in the least by what they read, unless they are ready to change their
behavior and are looking for the advice they have already decided to take.
And that is rare. That would hold true for the flamers, the trollers and
all the other immature types who populate these provinces. Not to mention
the email spammers and the malignant advertisers on the web.

gary
austin


"animaux" wrote in message
...
You post should have and would have served more purpose if it had been
directed
toward the person who trolled this newsgroup. I too have been online
since the
80s. I don't have rules which censor my speech. I take each item and
evaluate
the best way and I do that. BTW, this is a gardening newsgroup, not the
board
room at a corporation. Maybe your being a bit too judgmental.


On Mon, 19 May 2003 13:28:39 GMT, "gary"
wrote:

Well, look a little below the surface. I am just being polite. I have
been
reading and posting in newsgroups since there were newsgroups but, years
ago, I determined to follow a personal rule of not using ad hominem
attacks
or vulgarity, no matter how tempting it might be at the time. I have
found
it to be quite freeing. Others might profit from trying it, especially
those who desire to be taken seriously.

gary
austin


"David Wright" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 May 2003 14:47:52 GMT, "gary"
wrote:

Ma'am, your reply here to this "Cliff" guy kind of mystifies me.

Gary, you are way in over your head. Stop now before you drown.

David


This was cute. I LOLed.