Month: October 2005

  Setting atop a mountain was a huge stone jutting out from the rest. It stood out, unlike the others, boldly weathering the forces of nature. It seemed to defy all the forces placed against it, stronger than the rest, and its boldness made the other stones pale in comparison.

  On one stormy afternoon the stone was struck with a bolt of lightning unlike any before. With such a force that it split, and it tumbled down the face of the mountain, and began to break into pieces.

  Finally the pieces came to rest in a stream that formed at the bottom of the mountain.

  So you may think, now the stone is at its end, but not at all, for it is only the beginning.

Why are you around at a time like this? Working at night? Coming from a different time zone?

Do you know about our European Breakfast threads prepared daily by Fran over at Eurotrib?

How do you split your time between Booman’s and Eurotrib? Take the poll

I think we might need a new name for “flame wars” here as they aren’t true flame wars.,,,,because still only 4’s are given, even in the most contentious diaries, except of course for our lovely troll bill .
I am hoping the site has settled down now, it was such a roller coaster with many highs and lows these last few days.
So difficult when friends are fighting and you may agree on some points with both sides, but now you can’t say them cause you will be dragged into the fight and called siding.  If you try to intervene, better choose your words carefully or they can be taken wrong by one or the other or look over your shoulder a new attack from the right flank.
Seems like we are trying to create here is intellectual debate, mostly based on personal views about many different subjects, or personal perceptions about world events, and then the next thing you know it becomes about my facts versus your facts, my knowing vs your knowing, my writing vs your writing and then me vs you.  
And what is resolved in the end, not much, in fact people get hurt, people get angry, people feel put off from even posting anything on the subject lest you may attract one or more of the fighting factions and then boom you are in it too.
So what I am thinking right now is that when you fight you are ruining the experience for the rest of us, we can be all jolly after leaving the cafe and amble by a diary with an interesting topic, settle in to read, hmmmm, scroll down the comments, oh nice comment, give a 4,  good discussion going here, what’s next, rubbing hands, next comment, oh dear X is mad at J for what, now let me see, and you go back and read previous comment and what I don’t get that here, so you go back and read the diary and still no, I don’t get that here, then back down to the comments, what did I miss, look at the next and next and oh what fighting going on all the way down.
You make a choice then, leave a diary that might have been good and fun or innformative, but now you are turned off.  Others will see the fight and say well I like what he said, so I’ll jump in and add another bat to this fight, back and forth they go, batters coming in, getting out, then a peacemaker may come along, or it may be you if you are very brave and trys to lay some gentle calming on the situation.  Boom next thing you know, the peacemaker is attacked.  

Via Danielle Crtittenden over at The Huffington Post –  a leaked transcript of Ed Gillespie prepping Harriet Miers:

wait…there’s more…

Some food for thought. More below the break: