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From: crp@stcvax.UUCP (Charlie Price)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Re: proposed newsgroup for current events
Message-ID: <223@stcvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Jan-84 16:40:14 EST
Article-I.D.: stcvax.223
Posted: Thu Jan 12 16:40:14 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Jan-84 23:56:02 EST
References: <811@cbosgd.UUCP>
Organization: Storage Technology Corp.  Louisville, CO
Lines: 53

Some comments on Mark's proposal for net.cur-events.

>   ... (discussion) rages on and on, and has little to do with what
>  net.general was intended for (important announcements and queries).

Right!
I DO NOT want to skip net.general because it is clogged!

>  Alternatively, if someone can make a good case that this is exactly
>  what net.politics is for (I don't read that one),
>  let's form a policy that such things must be confined to net.politics.

This is clearly not the case.

>  Examples of the discussions I'd like to have seen go into this group
>  are the invasion of Grenada, the handgun debate, and the one that's
>  about to start up about Jesse Jackson.

For instance, I don't think that talking about Grenada is,
a priori, politics.  It probably isn't any SINGLE thing in the beginning.
The discussion might eventually center on political issues and be suitably
reconvened into net.politics.
Handguns also aren't politics.  It might also end up being mostly political.
JJ seems like it is mostly politics at the start.
I think it is a good idea to have a place where fledgling discussions
can try their wings and maybe grow up into full sized discussions
with a specific focus.
Some discussions will never belong anywhere special and die out
soon after the "current event" that they correspond to.

I strongly agree that this stuff should NOT appear in net.general other
than to announce that the slugfest is underway in net.whatever.
Someone suggested that this was what net.misc was for.
Ummmmm...  Maybe so.  Misc is such a miscellaneous label though.
Having a newsgroup whose purported focus is current events might
direct people better than "misc".
Anything that would help to usefully organize articles seems like
a good idea to me.

The question remaining:
Is net.misc good enough or can a(nother) more specific (but general)
newsgroup add to the organization of news items.

I think net.cur-events (or whatever name) is probably useful enough to try.
When discussions have an obvious direction they should be kicked out
into the appropriate specific newsgroup and people who want to follow
them can do so.
-- 
Charlie Price  -  STC (disk division)
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