response 263 of 393:

Jan 9 19:57 UTC 2004

I'll confess that my anger over what you and valerie have done is
somewhat mitigated by circumstances.  If you stole a loaf of bread to
feed your starving son, I'd be sympathetic -- but you'd still be a thief.  

Insofar as Grex has any policy covering events like this, it's that no
permanent action will be taken until public discussion has taken place
and either consensus or a member vote occurs.  We empower staff and
board to act in emergencies and other situations where lengthy public
debate would have a detrimental effect, but we expect that they will
come up with temporary solutions that can be removed once the lengthy
public discussion has taken place.  
  As I understand it (I no longer have access to the mailing lists where
I understand the discussions took place, so I may be wrong about
sequence of events), Jan proposed a temporary solution, that your items
be removed from public view while a discussion was held over whether or
not you could delete the whole item.  Instead of accepting this
proposal, which would have addressed your (understandable) concerns
about someone posting an archive of the items, you took matters into
your own hands.  

I can understand and accept that you felt it necessary to take steps to
make sure no one could read your own comments in those items.  I don't
really care why; it's none of my business.  It is for your decision that
the rest of us had no say in what was to be done with *our* responses
taht you have lost my respect, and that I consider you a vandal.