"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message

I have yet seen a newsgroup that doesn't go Off Topic,

Going 'off topic' as a result of thread drift is one thing but
deliberately posting something that is totally OT is quite another. It is
not even as if any attempt was made to disguise the topic such as writing
about perhaps shooting something in the garden and then weaving in
comments that apply only to arcane US political speak.

or contend with
trolls or spammers. Sometimes in our exuberance we become excessive, but
it is because of things about which we feel passionately (not to say
that I wouldn't KF Dr. Chung, if he shows up here). Both of you, FarmI
and Emily, are highly respected in this group, and your pronouncements
not lightly taken by myself. I'm sorry, if my continuing rage against
our government, and its murderous policies disturbs you.

Don't you think that in an ng where the topic is gardening, that those of
us who come here to read about gardening might be allowed to have a bit of
freedom from American politics? Many posters here don't live in the US so
it's OTT at the very least to foist such posting on us.

On the other
hand, we are individuals, each off whom plays our own little parts in
celebrating and furthering gardening. All in all, I think that the good
that we do, outweighs the bad.

Thank you for the criticism, because I know you want to be part of
something better. We all do.

Which is why I garden. If I want to talk about politics or guns or other
non gardening related issues, I do those in forums where that is the norm.

I usually just read the subject. If it says, say, "How to seduce a sheep",
I don't even click into it, because I have an idea what it is about, I'm no
longer interested in the subject, and don't want to read it. If I click
into a message that is titled Onion cultivation, and see that the thread
drift has taken it into a discussion about the big O, I treat it the same
way, or mark the thread, knowing it has been discussed out.

But that's just me. Some people like to bark about how Usenet should be in
a perfect world. I just adjust to the one I have.

Steve