--- "Dr. Ambert Pimenta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have been a goanetter much longer than you and > seen this site evolve into a one that almost > deviates from what it was orignally concieved > for .. i.e Goa. Lets keep to Goenkar business here > only ! > Mario replies: Thanks for your comments and suggestion. Maybe I, a new Goanetter, have misunderstood what Goanet is all about. Maybe you, an old Goanetter, have too narrow a view of what interests Goenkars in 2005. The 262 posts by various posters, only 107 of which which I took issue with, were often initiated by them, not me. How many posts would Goanet be left with if not for this group, none of whom has uttered a word of complaint about topic content as far as I know?
In thinking about this I thought back to how I was introduced to Goanet, which I had never heard about prior to November 2004. In my initial perusal I saw a post by a Tony Correia-Afonso, and guess what the thread or topic was? He was attacking US policy on Iraq, which, as you may know by now, I will defend single-handedly against anyone who opposes freedom and democracy for Muslim populations, if I need to. It just went from there, following precedent and practice, not necessarily the rules. There seem to be varying opinions on this issue, even among the moderators. Is Goanet restricted to Goa, period, or is it also for Goenkars, which may not necessarily be the same thing? There are some who believe, as I do, that anything that is of interest to a Goenkar, regardless of what it is or where they live, is fair game. If this were not the case, why would the first post to draw my attention be about US foreign policy, by a resident of Goa? If this were not the case, no one would respond to my posts, and vice versa. The Goan diaspora is large and diverse and wide-spread, and some have other more global interests in addition to being interested in anything concerning Goa. Some visit Goa infrequently and may have different interests from those who live there, or those who visit frequently. Goan perspectives come from the middle-east, Australia, Europe, Britain, Canada, one small but vociferous speck in the Carribean, the US, and from other parts of India and Goa itself. The folks who believe in a free and open forum cannot understand why it is that Goanetters who are only heard from when they are complaining about what someone else is posting, and rarely post anything original themselves, cannot just ignore what doesn't interest them and engage in what does. Isn't that what an open forum means? How does this philosophy impede or intrude on others, who are free to make their own choices? In a free society, no one can control what I say, but no one is forced to listen to me either. In the opposite situation, which I believe you and a few others are suggesting, some controlling group or point-of-view can dictate the content or what topics we should be discussing, which means it is no longer an open forum, as I thought it was, and the content and contributions will adjust to that reality. It has already begun, and we'll see how it evolves from here on out. I'd like to hear more discussion on this subject from other voices than just a small group that has emerged recently and are rarely heard from otherwise.