Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!texbell!sugar!ficc!jeffd From: jeffd@ficc.uu.net (Jeff Daiell) Newsgroups: news.groups Subject: (1) in defense of soc.culture.*; (2) a truce? Message-ID: Date: 14 Feb 90 12:16:45 GMT Organization: FICC [but opinions my own!] Lines: 39 It was said that soc.culture.* should be moved to alt, because postings tend to consist of folks catching up on news from back home. That may be -- we dinna get soc here -- but that isn't how it *has* to be. Individuals from places other than the culture under discussion in any given s.c.* group can, if they wish, utilize the group to learn more about the culture, to clear up misconceptions, to confirm correct impressions, etc. For instance: all we ever hear about regarding Lebanon these days (from the general press, that is) is the civil war. But Lebanon is also the land of Kalil Gilbran, and Beirut was until the civil war broke out a major world banking center. Someone not from Lebanon could post to soc.culture.lebanese, if there is one, to ask about one of those facets -- or, if totally unaware of the country's past, to ask, simply, "What was Lebanon like before the violence began?" Ditto for Ireland. It isn't all IRA and Paisley -- it's also Synge (sp.?) and other poets and playwrights. It's also a place where a Jewish citizen could become Lord High Mayor (of Dublin) at a time when many countries weren't happy about letting Jewish persons even vote. Well, the list could go on, obviously, but I think I've made the point. Rather than banishing soc.culture.* to alt, just because folks have an understandable desire to keep up with life in their birthplace, broaden the scope of the respective groups, and make them places where everyone receiving a given group can increase their knowledge. ---- It has been suggested by several persons that the ongoing thread in which Trish makes false charges against Peter and me, and I rebut them, should be dropped. I agree, but I'm worried that if I just drop it, she will repeat her charges and folks will mistake my silence for assent. Therefore, a mutual ceasefire is preferable to a unilateral one. Trish? Jeff -- Pun for the day: "I'm a sucker for vampire stories." -- Chuq von Rospach