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Author Message
25 new of 424 responses total.
naftee
response 46 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 10 22:14 UTC 2004

re 43 But they would never get around to doing that!  They'd stall on purpose!
tod
response 47 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 10 23:51 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

cyklone
response 48 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 02:05 UTC 2004

I think jep's divorce item has too many valuable insights to disappear. 
Even if his posts are deleted (which I certainly understand and do not
oppose), I believe the benefits others provided in terms of their own
opinions and experiences far outweigh the "benefit" of deleting the
entire item. 

jp2
response 49 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 02:08 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

cross
response 50 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 04:04 UTC 2004

Naming of an item is irrelevant.  In a forum like this, creating an
item is an invitation for public discussion, by definition.  There is
no ownership of a discussion amongst public participants; that's an
impossible concept.  It's like asking, ``Who owns `speech'?''

If, therefore, there is no owner, then it is inappropriate for one person
to decide they have any authority to delete the words of another person.
Think of it this way: if someone else had created an item parallel
to Valerie's baby diary items entitled something like, `discussion of
valerie's baby diary', would Valerie `own' that too?  Of course not,
it doesn't make any sense.

That said, I feel empathy for jep and valerie's emotions in wanting to
make their posts go away.  I still think my previous suggestion is an
acceptible way to go that has the potential to accomodate all parties.
jep
response 51 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 04:05 UTC 2004

I agree there was value in my divorce items.  However, it was all 
intended for me, and for my situation.  There was virtually no drift 
in those items.
cyklone
response 52 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 04:26 UTC 2004

That's not the point. People said what they said, and just because those words
were placed in an item you began, and about you, does not mean you own those
words. Especially when those words may have independant value for someone
other than you.
jep
response 53 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 04:58 UTC 2004

I regret that that value was lost, cyklone.  I wish I didn't think 
there was a need to remove those items.  It is possible someone would 
have someday come across my items when in a similar situation and with 
a similar mindset, and could thereby have gotten through the 
experience a little easier.

You see, I do understand that aspect of the issue.  What I would have 
given for an account of that type of experience, while I was going 
through it...

But those items mean something else, too.  I wouldn't have entered 
them, or at least wouldn't have said as much in them, if I'd had 
appropriate concern for what might come of them some day.  I just 
*didn't care*.  It seems to me to be pretty harsh to force someone to 
have something remain when it was created under those types of 
circumstances.

Also, that they're deleted now is an important fact about them.  They 
can not again be an obscure, past account of my feelings about my 
divorce.  Now they'd be a part of a political storm, a target for 
people who have no concern about me at all, and also a target for 
people who don't like that I had them deleted.  They're deleted now.  
That's real, and it has real impact.  Undeleting them doesn't put 
things back to where they were.  Undeleting them is a completely new 
action, which has never been done before on Grex.

That is of course true for Valerie's items, and for items all over the 
conferences which once contained Valerie's responses.  Restoring them 
does not set back the clock.  It'd be a whole new type of action, 
compounding the consequences -- not erasing them -- of what has 
already happened this week.

If I hadn't gotten my items deleted, they might well have gained new 
usage from a different group of people; those who are archiving 
controversial items just to show people they can't delete even their 
own text.

It is *not* as simple as "the items were created once, now they should 
be here permanently".  Both because my items were deleted, and because 
of other events, much has changed here this week.
janc
response 54 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 07:59 UTC 2004

Richard - nobody is arguing that their deletion was procedurally correct.
The person who deleted them has already resigned.  We are all willing to
agree that that should not have been done in that manner.  There is no need
to keep debating that point.

If I'd had my way, the items would have been deleted with the formal
approval of the board temporarily, so that we could have this discussion.
If that had happened, then there would be at least a little reason to
debate whether or not it was the right thing to do - it would have been
an official Grex action, not an accident that happened to Grex.

In any case, if they hadn't been deleted, one way or the other, then we
couldn't even be having this public discussion of the merits of deleting them.

The question here is to weigh the potentials for harm in each course.
One way, JEP is exposed to some risks that he has outlined.  The other
way, Grex might have taken a small step closer to the slippery slope
of censorship.  The first risks a person (two really), the second risks
an institution.  None of us can do anything to mitigate the risks to
JEP if we restore his item.  All of us can do things to prevent Grex from
sliding down the slope into routine censorship if we do don't.

I think there's no comparison here.  It's a no brainer.
jp2
response 55 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 14:15 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

gelinas
response 56 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 14:24 UTC 2004

That deleting the items was wrong does not make restoring them right;
restoring them is also wrong.
cyklone
response 57 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 14:48 UTC 2004

I disagree with jp's assertion that valerie and jep lack moral character. They
just made mistakes, as we all do from time to time.
tod
response 58 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 14:59 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

jp2
response 59 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 15:30 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

jmsaul
response 60 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 15:58 UTC 2004

Jep isn't insisting on that.  I believe he'd be fine if his items were
restored minus all of his comments.
jp2
response 61 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 16:01 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

jmsaul
response 62 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 16:07 UTC 2004

His objection to doing that is procedural -- he doesn't want the whole item
restored to public view while he removes his posts from it. 
jp2
response 63 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 16:14 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

gull
response 64 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 17:19 UTC 2004

jep, would you argue, then, that the standard for removing whole items
should be that the person who entered them regrets having done so and
feels their mental state was different when they did?  That seems pretty
low.  Would it also apply to items that the person hadn't entered, but
had posted a large number of responses to?
jep
response 65 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 17:46 UTC 2004

I am not arguing for a standard for removal of items.  I am arguing 
against the idea that Valerie's actions can be undone.  They 
happened.  There are effects which cannot be undone now.

Overall, it would be better in most ways if no items had been removed 
at all.  If I'd been involved with writing a policy a week ago, I 
would have tried to influence it against removal of items by staff 
members.  That would, of course, have prevented my items from being 
removed by staff, too.

But circumstances are different now.

My expectations for my items is certainly different now than it was a 
few days ago.  Then, they were there and nothing could be done about 
them.  Now, they're gone and it would take a staff action to restore 
them.  That action would be an action to hurt me.  That would be it's 
main effect from my perspective.  It would, by the way, hurt me more 
than it would help Grex.  I will not, of course, stand by while 
something like that is done to me.
janc
response 66 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 17:56 UTC 2004

OK, Jamie.  Let's all decide to delete JEP's items temporarily while we
discuss whether we should permanently delete them or not.  Thus we
magically change their status from "deleted because Valerie was bad" to
"deleted because we want to be able to discuss them."  This fairly
effortless transistion now allows us to declare Valerie bad without
being coerced by simplistic logic into instantly restoring the items. 
Does that serve?

David:  I think the standard for removing items should be that the risk
of harm to the person requesting the deletion if they are left up is
substantially greater than the risk of harm to Grex if they are deleted.
mary
response 67 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 18:10 UTC 2004

That makes it an easy call then, Jan.  With the items restored, and all of
Jep's comments and Valerie's comments removed, then there is very little
left to cause them any harm whatsoever.  And Grex is left with the clear
understanding that users can't censor other users.  Which I find a biggie
in terms of what makes Grex special.

mary
response 68 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 18:17 UTC 2004

And this is going to sound very harsh, but has to be said.
Jan, are you quite sure that Valerie doesn't have access
to the pumpkin where she could tamper with the backup tapes
before this issue is resolved?  I'm sorry I have to ask.
naftee
response 69 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 20:43 UTC 2004

re 65 
>That action would be an action to hurt me. 

Don't you agree that the action of censoring other people's text hurt them
as well?  Or are you as selfish as valerie and refuse to acknowledge other
people's feelings?
janc
response 70 of 424: Mark Unseen   Jan 11 20:53 UTC 2004

It's theoretically possible that Valerie could swipe my keys and go to
the pumpkin.  Actually the key would hardly be necessary.  The outside
door is frequently open since the remodeling and the inside lock ...
well, we should get the deadbolt rekeyed so we can use that to prevent
people who sneeze strongly as they walk by from accidentally entering
the pumpkin.

The question mostly indicates that you don't understand what is going on
here.
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