or: "Great Staley's Ghost!"

I'm immediately reminded of a curious double standard - I actually had the temerity to ask Al about it, and never received an answer - regarding one person in particular: Tom Brosz. Tom was one of those whose alleged "support" of people engaged in looking for and enhancing "anomalies" was what sent Al permanently 'round the bend about the Space Board (and set off the falling dominos toward where we are right now) - yet Tom was a very regular commentator on Al's remaining Off Topic and Current Event boards. Why? My conclusion was: Either Al agreed with his politics (more likely), or Al liked to watch the ensuing [usually civil and well-researched] arguments. As another example, consider the recent appearance on the now-defunct Afterhours OT board of SDAI-Tech1's series of missives on his own peculiar cosmology. Not fare for the Space Board, but fair game on OT.

So:

[1] There is established precedent in the conduct of "Off Topic" boards for allowing representatives of >ahem< "alternative perception and interpretation" groups to post, whether or not their opinions are welcome on the Space Science BBS.

[2] What the hell else is an "Off Topic" board for, anyway???

[3] What an "Off Topic" board should NOT be for is character assassination, whether of another poster or of third parties, including elected officials who may or may not be suspects in a hypothetical foul-play disappearance. Justin has thoughtfully established The Flame Board for that purpose, and that is where such posts should be consigned.

* * *
Robert made an excellent comment about the evolution of our tiny pocket of Net civilization [a neologism: "Netciv", offrered to the public domain] - but let's remember that we're evolving from a prior form with pre-existing genetics... a roundabout way of saying that we all support democratic traditions and certain rights guaranteed in the US Constitution. I think the idea of "pigeonholing" certain types of free speech is a workable compromise - as long as our Fearless Moderator can keep up with the workload.

E'