Re: Way to eliminate nutcases from newsfeed
Stella Nemeth (S.NEMETH@IX.NETCOM.COM)
Fri, 06 Dec 1996 14:23:05 GMT
hegeman@wchat.on.ca (Toby Cockcroft) wrote:
>The best way to marginalise someone politically is to silence them. Kill
>files do this quite nicely. And though I would agree that in this case
>silencing Ed would be a boon to humanity it is a dangerous road we go down
>when this option is exercised. Silencing opposition is all too often
>abused and used for all the wrong reasons. So, though it pains me to say
>this, some of us must endure Ed's words and listen to him lest we grow too
>used to silence and no longer listen to ourselves.
Normally I would agree with you. I have a moral and practical
objection to kill files. Morally for much of the same reasons you
have described. Practically because sometimes it just isn't safe to
kill file someone because you need to know what the bum is up to at
all times.
However, there are times when it is both morally and practically OK to
use a kill file. IMHO, of course. <g> Your mileage may vary. Etc.
That point comes when you have read enough of whoever you are going to
kill file that you know that the irritant is basically harmless, has
nothing to say, and intends to keep saying nothing for the rest of
time. At that point even I start killing threads.
Stella Nemeth
s.nemeth@ix.netcom.com
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