Of course it takes teamwork. I've moved away from a few All Politics discussions but as much as a couple of them frustrate us they still stay at the top of the page.
Maybe some of my All Politics pals will make a New Year's Resolution to sink a couple of those nuisance ships.
Of course it takes teamwork. I've moved away from a few All Politics discussions but as much as a couple of them frustrate us they still stay at the top of the page.
Maybe some of my All Politics pals will make a New Year's Resolution to sink a couple of those nuisance ships.
I get a creepy feeling that there is a mutiny by losers that is being discussed âoh so subtlety â but I guess they do not have the stamina to fight the good fight. Their loss.Â
Just when did this thread, MOL, become exclusionary? Â And why? Was I sent a message?
 I have noticed â more recently of late â that there is much more sniping and infighting among the regulars, however â boredom, perhaps? One-sided conversations are so pathetic.
 Was it something I said back in 2012?
For just about 250 years, the United States grew and prospered under a two party system of governance to become the envy of the world. Of course, the Democrats soon will be splintered into variations â happening in NYC already.
See, Mtierney, the USA is not and hasnât ever been âthe envy of the worldâ, even with your 2-party electoral system.
Firstly, Australia and NZ would firmly suggest that a truly healthy democracy needs more than two parties. Â Weâve both encouraged multiple voices at elections since our voting began, roughly a couple of centuries ago.
Secondly, we invented the secret ballot, with privacy screens.  Your cubicles were copied from us. Thirdly, NZ and Australia conferred female suffrage waaaaay before you did - NZ pioneered it.  Fourthly, we vote on a Saturday so you donât have to take time off work to vote. Also, since some people work on Saturdays or canât write/travel on their Sabbath to vote, we introduced early voting/secure postal ballots very early on.Â
I have a feeling we also pioneered some of the accessibility standards in voting before you adopted them. Thereâs more, but Iâm in a busy, noisy place and canât think clearly.Â
I get a creepy feeling that there is a mutiny by losers that is being discussed âoh so subtlety â but I guess they do not have the stamina to fight the good fight. Their loss.Â
Just when did this thread, MOL, become exclusionary? Â And why? Was I sent a message?
 I have noticed â more recently of late â that there is much more sniping and infighting among the regulars, however â boredom, perhaps? One-sided conversations are so pathetic.
 Was it something I said back in 2012?
For just about 250 years, the United States grew and prospered under a two party system of governance to become the envy of the world. Of course, the Democrats soon will be splintered into variations â happening in NYC already.
yes, this is terrific in theory. The problem comes when a thread that Iâm genuinely interested gets taken over by bickering and personal arguments. I keep checking back into it, thinking that maybe those would have ended, and the actual thread topic would have regained traction.
These threads tend to become zombie threadsbouncing around the top of the page, because they become a battleground for people who want the last word. Sometimes, I think the most practical and merciful thing to do to such a thread is let it sync. There are precious few active threads going on these days, so Iâd like to see the healthy ones float to the top.Â
Itâs terrific in practice, too. Call up the discussion to add something that has a chance of refocusing it, or stop calling it up and move on. One of MOLâs virtues is how easy it is to scroll past threads (or comments).
And if enough users ignored a thread, maybe while singing Aliceâs Restaurant â if enough users ignored a thread while singing! â well, can you imagine what would happen to that thread? There wouldnât be any movement!
One useful innovation by the proprietors here was to separate the political-related threads into their own silo. The threads which go off the rails are usually on that side of the wall.
Attempts to inject some national politics onto this side of the wall should be ignored (if not actively deleted). Just sayin' ...
@mrincredible, can you tell me what constitutes a âhealthyâ thread? If the question had been posed to me, I would respond that a healthy thread had staying power, and many long term âreadersâ â albeit frustrated folks. The way these posters turn on one another very quickly proves their insecurity and gotcha mindset.Â
One poster can barely control his anger and writes/speaks in disjointed, fake cussing, as though his anger would make a point. It doesnât. He might be happier in  Mamdaniâs NYC, however.
Another poster only got into âwhatâs happeningâ posting fairly recently, having previously shared pithy one-liners to indicate his âabove it allâ superiority. Why, I wonder? He was very interesting as an pithy observer
Group thinking that sinking this thread would solve the problem of how do we get rid of mtierney is truly indicative of a weakness in a public forum which is unable to accept that there are posters who think differently â but isnât that what makes conversation interesting and stimulating and productive?
Recently half of the elected members of Congress had a hissy fit and walked off the job (but still on salary) because they donât like our POTUS! This was not a position which proved productive â being on the job is productive.Â
As I have mentioned before, I am a 93 year old woman who lived and worked in Maplewood/ South Orange 48 years, raising four children (2 now deceased) with my equally active civic-minded husband.Â
***
On a totally different topic. How does an elected member of the Board of Education justify sending her children to a private out-of-district school? Surely it is a rumor â have I missed the discussion here on MOL?
@mrincredible, can you tell me what constitutes a âhealthyâ thread? ?
The threads that stay more or less on topic. Thereâs one thread in politics which just seems to have become pointless bickering. Itâs nothing to do with any of your comments.Â
Dave Schmidt I understand that itâs easy to scroll past threads. But my eternal optimism leads me to check in on the ones that I found interesting. I just get dismayed when itâs zombified.Â
On a totally different topic. How does an elected member of the Board of Education justify sending her children to a private out-of-district school? Surely it is a rumor â have I missed the discussion here on MOL?
Your best choice would be to start an on-topic thread (probably in "Education") with your question, perhaps providing more details such as the name of the person and more specificity about your issue with that person's choice for the education of their own children.
Continuing to talk about it in vague terms on this thread would not be as good a choice.
Dave Schmidt I understand that itâs easy to scroll past threads. But my eternal optimism leads me to check in on the ones that I found interesting. I just get dismayed when itâs zombified.
I get it. I prefer an MOL that lets even threads that dismay me rise at will.
Some narcissists canât seem to control their urges to keep their emotions in checkâŠkeep your political foolishness behind the fence. Itâs not about you! No need to come over here with your sanctimonious rhetoric. You seem to not care too much about whatâs being said and done to the rose gardenâŠÂ
I get a creepy feeling that there is a mutiny by losers that is being discussed âoh so subtlety â but I guess they do not have the stamina to fight the good fight. Their loss.Â
Just when did this thread, MOL, become exclusionary? Â And why? Was I sent a message?
 I have noticed â more recently of late â that there is much more sniping and infighting among the regulars, however â boredom, perhaps? One-sided conversations are so pathetic.
 Was it something I said back in 2012?
For just about 250 years, the United States grew and prospered under a two party system of governance to become the envy of the world. Of course, the Democrats soon will be splintered into variations â happening in NYC already.
As for me, I mentioned that I've moved away from a few All Poliltics discussions. The issue is not as much a difference of opinion, but the tone of some discussions or the deadlock that certain topics get stuck in. If I see a poster never move an inch on any topic, I don't see the point in continuing the discussion.
It does become frustrating to see some of the same contentious threads dominate the All Politics section, which I like to think of as a VIP room for those who are interested in political discussion. I've seen a few threads that might have garnered more interest, but they didn't stay afloat perhaps due to the dominance of a few active threads.
I do take a peek to see if anything new is introduced and I'm sure once the midterms dominate my curiosity I'll be active again. For now there are enough people voicing opinions that I share. And I have a few quiet little threads where I continue to post.Â
On a totally different topic. How does an elected member of the Board of Education justify sending her children to a private out-of-district school? Surely it is a rumor â have I missed the discussion here on MOL?
I'm a big fan of public school and both my kids went through ours K-12. BUT ... there are many reasons that a resident might decide to send their children to a private school or otherwise out of district depending upon the child's and family's needs. So unless you know their situation, then it is wrong to criticize. And if there is such a need, then a member of the BOE should have just as much right to do that as anyone else. That being said, they also have MORE ability than most of us to influence changes that might reduce those needs, but that often does not happen quickly so might not help their own child(ren).
Ignore it.