Let me gently nudge you away from apologizing for the USA and rambling on - moderator or not.
It's enough to say this forum is for technical discussions - not politics, religion, sports, or other interests. The SSA discussion is certainly way off topic, but I think you just went off on your own rant. IMHO. Let's just forgive, forget and move on.. Scott Rohling On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:59 PM, IBMVM Moderator <modera...@gizmoworks.com>wrote: > "And now, a word from our moderator..." > > Ladies, Gentlemen, dearest colleagues: > > Allow me, if I may, to offer a gentle nudge back toward the stated topic of > the list. > > Many of our fellow travelers on this list are - as hard as this may be for > some of the audience to believe - citizens of nations other than the USA. > Like many of you who are US citizens, I have my own well-reasoned, > insightful, passionate opinions regarding the energetic hi-jinks displayed > by the entirety of our duly elected government. > > That being said, I must beg all of you to please bear in mind the > following: > > - This forum is intended to serve as a vessel for all things related to > z/VM. Should the US SSA choose to implement solutions to their IT > infrastructure problems which leverage this technology, I am certain that > many of us will be positively giddy with joy. > > - This is not an appropriate forum for the airing one's political > opinions. To do otherwise is to abuse the hospitality of our gracious host, > The University of Arkansas. > > - With respect to our colleagues who are not resident in the USA, may I > suggest that discussions of US political theater in this forum are, at > worst, vulgar displays of family drama in front of guests. At best, this > behavior is comparable to holding our innocent and hitherto-unsuspecting > companions hostage in a small enclosed space while airing your (no doubt > well-founded) opinions regarding the intellectual superiority of one's > grandchildren, the intimate personal details of recent medical care > experiences, or the ethical / moral shortcomings of the new neighbors. > > Although the hapless targets of these epiphanies may bear this rudeness > with apparent good grace, I am compelled to speculate that they are > vigorously scrambling about the interior of their own minds, desperately > laboring to choose which of their own limbs they could best discreetly gnaw > off in order to effect an escape from further conversation. > > In brief: Kindly stick to the nuts and bolts of the technical issue > presented for discussion. Pithy witticisms regarding the surrounding > political infrastructure are not germane, and thus would be better directed > to practically any venue other than this one. Your extreme cleverness is > already obvious by simple virtue of your presence on the list, and need not > be further displayed to the rest of the class. > > Your irascible yet lovable moderator, > > -dan. > > Daniel P. Martin -- IBMVM List Janitor > modera...@gizmoworks.com / dmar...@gizmoworks.com >
