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Author Message
25 new of 432 responses total.
mcnally
response 350 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:18 UTC 2006

 My answer to you is the same as my suggestion to Dan Cross.  If you
 want Grex to take a major policy stance, put forth a proposal which
 can be voted on by the membership.
richard
response 351 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:32 UTC 2006

re #350 and my answer to you mcnally is to repeat what I just said, 
which is that the membership ONLY VOTES to amend the bylaws and elect 
board members.  There is no provision allowing the members to vote on 
anything else.  This therefore, just as with the blue ribbon thing, 
cannot be put before the membership.

The board can decide, or staff.
kingjon
response 352 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:36 UTC 2006

item:coop,2

Bylaws Article 5, Section a: "Any member of Grex may make a motion by entering
it as the text of a discussion item in a computer conference on Grex designated
for this purpose ..." Section b: "A motion will be considered to have passed
if more votes were cast in favor than against, *except as provided for bylaw
amendments.*" [emphasis added]. Note that bylaw amendments are completely
separate from member motions.

richard
response 353 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:45 UTC 2006

re #352 my bad, but it doesn't say that a membership vote is NECESSARY 
for anything other than board elections and bylaw amendments.  In fact 
there is nothing in there stating which other types of proposals 
require member votes.

For example, staff did not recently seek a member vote to restrict 
email privileges.  It didn't have to.  Maybe it should have.  But 
nothing in the bylaws specifies which types of proposals need member 
votes.

I submit that I do not think that posting three cartoons on the grex 
web page is such a big deal that it requires a member vote.  It is 
certainly not as big a deal as restricting email privs
richard
response 354 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:46 UTC 2006

And I ask mcnally and other, if the blue ribbon thing did not require a 
member vote, which was grex taking a political stand, why should this?
kingjon
response 355 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:54 UTC 2006

Re #353: Article 3, Section c: "The BOD shall make decisions related to system
maintenance, staff responsibilities and appointments, and issues related to
daily business."  This is none of these.

Whether to post something on the web page is (IMO) up to the webmaster, but his
decision can be made for him by a member vote.


richard
response 356 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 20:56 UTC 2006

I think that by placing the blue ribbon on grex's webpage without a 
member vote, grex set a precedent that these decisions on matters 
related to taking political stands, can be made by the board and do not 
require a member vote.  Which is not to say a member vote isn't a good 
thing.  Just that the board is authorized by the membership to make 
these decisions themselves.
myopicislam
response 357 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 21:20 UTC 2006

http://grex.cyberspace.org/~myopicislam/
mcnally
response 358 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 21:28 UTC 2006

 >  And I ask mcnally and other, if the blue ribbon thing did not require a
 >  member vote, which was grex taking a political stand, why should this?

 Because it rather undermines the claim that you are making (that Grex
 supports free speech) when you haven't even asked the membership of
 Grex whether it agrees with your symbolic gesture.

 If no consensus was sought at the time of the blue ribbon campaign then
 the same was true of that gesture, but that doesn't make it a better idea
 the second time around.

jep
response 359 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 22:36 UTC 2006

The Board does not have any authority to take political stands which 
claim to represent my position.  I don't vote for Grex Board members in 
order to have someone else to make political statements for me.  I do 
so in order that someone will be in charge of Grex, to provide a 
community forum where I can discuss things with other people who like 
to discuss things.

Grex doesn't need to have an editorial voice.  It's a place to express 
one's editorial voice.  Grex is an electronic barbershop, not a 
newspaper.
cyklone
response 360 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 20 23:58 UTC 2006

Is that the twisted analogy you used to have your items deleted?
jep
response 361 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 00:02 UTC 2006

Nope.  You know, you should have discussed that two years ago when it 
was relevant.  It's not now, or in this item.
cyklone
response 362 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 00:24 UTC 2006

It was a natural question given how false your analogy was. Barbershops 
don't archive the conversations that occur there.
jep
response 363 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 00:43 UTC 2006

No, it was a very strained question, obviously inappropriate, obviously 
discussed at extremely great length when it was meaningful two years 
ago, and obviously intended as a mean spirited attack from out of the 
blue.  If you want to be a jerk, cyklone, at least own up to what you 
are doing.  Be an honest jerk.
naftee
response 364 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 00:48 UTC 2006

Since the items are still (to my knowledge) available somewhere, the
discussion is as valid now as it was two years ago.

Some people don't forgive others for selfish acts, jep.  you have to be
prepared to accept the consequences of your decisions years after the fact.
otherwise you're going to be calling an awful lot of people 'jerks'.
scholar
response 365 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 01:08 UTC 2006

I've heard rumours that the vandalized items will be reposted someday soon.
twenex
response 366 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 01:15 UTC 2006

I haven't been paying much attention to this item, but now I'd like to make
a point.

I think those of you who are panicking about "the reaction in the Muslim
world" are missing the point. Much of the Muslim world is in the THIRD World,
a region well known for revolutions, counter-revolutions, violent protests,
and a general state of anarchy, irrespective of the religion of the people
concerned. In contrast, most of the Muslims in the /developed/ world, along
with citizens professing other religions, has been calm (there was a rally
in London at which some Muslim protesters demanded the beheading of the
cartoonists, but they were almost universally condemned for this by the rest
of the British Muslim community).
tod
response 367 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 03:13 UTC 2006

All I have to say is that it was the Taliban that demolished the 1500 year
old Buddhists monuments and you didn't hear a squeak from the Muslim world.
cyklone
response 368 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 03:54 UTC 2006

Jep, you used twisted "logic" to justify deleting items. Now you use a twisted
analogy of barbershops and grex. If you want to define me as a "jerk" for
pointing out your continued inability to think clearly, be my guest.
mcnally
response 369 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 04:19 UTC 2006

 re #366:  who's panicking?

 re #360, 368:  I think jep's position, as expressed in #359 is quite
 clear, furthermore totally agree with him that Cyberspace Communications'
 raison d'etre is to maintain Grex for public use, not to speak out on
 political issues or crusade for free speech.

 Here's what he wrote, again:

 > The Board does not have any authority to take political stands which
 > claim to represent my position.  I don't vote for Grex Board members in
 > order to have someone else to make political statements for me.  I do
 > so in order that someone will be in charge of Grex, to provide a
 > community forum where I can discuss things with other people who like
 > to discuss things.

happyboy
response 370 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 09:21 UTC 2006

re367:  i recall more protest from archeologists than from
        the buddhist community.
fudge
response 371 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 10:54 UTC 2006

re#367: that's because their issue is indeed with representation of figures
of worship - they don't give a damn about respecting other religions (which
are fundamentally evil to them), the fuss they're making is only about their
rule being broken. what they expect to achieve by staging worldwide
violent demonstrations because of a stupid cartoon published by one newspaper
is beyond me, but the only likely outcome I can foresee is the proliferation
of material ridiculing islam.
jep
response 372 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 14:06 UTC 2006

re resp:368: Do you disagree with my statement about the Board (or 
staff) creating a Grex position on the question of anti-Muslim 
cartoons?  Or aren't you able to comprehend that part of the discussion 
in this item?  I can try to state it in simpler words if you're having 
trouble following what I wrote.
naftee
response 373 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 14:25 UTC 2006

GreX should create a barbershop quartet
rcurl
response 374 of 432: Mark Unseen   Feb 21 16:07 UTC 2006

There is no reason for the Board to create a Grex position on anti-Muslim
cartoons if no one on the Board thinks tht Grex should take a position on a
matter that is not directly relevant to Grex. There are many much more
significant domestic freedom of speech issues that affect Grex and its
purposes than this Muslim dustup. 

But even then, there is a perfectly good procedure in place to raise the issue
with the membership, by proposing a resolution and having it put to a vote.
Arguments for and against can be made at that time. 
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