See Weather: for the Chicago Area thread

Oh man, what planet is this? Scott has a crash of the system, out of service for a week or more recently, and I come back and find that all the intelligent (read heavily debated) discussions have degraded to a level of what window Al is looking out of to determine the day's weather! Has the IQ level of everyone on this (?or it it my imagination?) planet been reduced by a factor of x10 because of the mosquito infestation in the Northeast? Has the Hurricane season caused a magnetic imbalance in the planet's gravity fields?
Or is it that in a stressful work environment all Forumites suffer from predictable mental degradation? Aerodromitis disease? I know the names of good therapists who can help you (relatives) for a small finder's fee.
Terry

[PeterL]

Terry, regretably there is no new readers start here facility, but if you take time to browse currently the biggest thread on this page you may find enlightenment.

Peter L
p.s. Yes, the world has gone mad.

[Darryl]

Hi Terry,

It seems that to try to restrict discussion to the topic for which this board was created is now out of fashion. It has been argued that any attempt to do so would infringe upon everybody's Constitutional Rights.

I would advise you strongly to take account of all this before bringing down the wrath of the guardians of the free world upon yourself.

Alas, I have not the stamina nor the inclination to argue endlessly on this point. I have already been cajouled for suggesting we have digressed lately. (a suggestion, I might add, in which I included myself.)

I will no doubt once more have the error of my ways pointed out to me now.

I am just naive enough to believe that 4 years of war, millions of hours of flying time and some of the fastest technological advances in history, give us enough to talk about here. I am also not a subsriber to the opinion that as all the Aces are dead and first hand knowledge is pretty well gone, that 'the current batch' of historians have nothing new to add.

A degree of diversity on the board is inevitable and desirable but lately it has become hard to find a thread on topic.

as always, respectfully submitted

Darryl

Since I often drive more than 300 miles per day, and most music stations in this area either have lame playlists, or obnoxious pairs of Morning show hosts, I do tend to listen to quite a bit of talk radio – so I get to hear almost daily debates on the gun issue, Clinton, etc., and it gets a little old. Debates on this site about the Second Amendment are not only off-topic, but probably of little interest to many of the non-American contributors to this Forum (and frankly, if many US citizens’ contact with Europeans is at all like John Lawson’s recent exchanges on here, it’s no wonder we’re not too popular overseas). It’s also one of those subjects which will be debated endlessly, with little chance of changing the views on either side. There ARE plenty of locations available for these debates, and I wish they’d take them there. Also, while I’m also not fond of Clinton, it seems that almost ANY subject on here lately will eventually bring up some derisive comment about the current President – again, I here him mentioned daily (no, hourly) on the radio, and would not miss it if he was seldom mentioned in a WWI Aviation site (I’m waiting for someone on here to call me a Liberal now – that’s the way they usually react).

One of my favorite “accidental” discoveries, many years ago, was a book on the Battle of Hastings, published in the 1960’s. It was very well written, and I enjoyed it immensely – considering that most of my history library is devoted to WWI-WWII subjects (along with ACW). I’m pretty sure all the participants in that battle died around 900 years ago, so by John L’s reasoning, nothing since the Bayeaux Tapestry would be worth our time – hey, since they’re all dead, nothing new can be learned, right? (...and why bother writing about Napoleon, Lincoln, RE Lee, the Wars of the Roses, etc.?)

I used to enjoy sparring with Jim’ACE’, pointing out his many factual errors, and debating some of his more vitriolic pronouncements on MvR and other subjects. After all, he’s the one who once compared MvR to Ted Bundy (and elsewhere, complaining about the exaggerations and revisionism among many historians!). By suggesting he may himself be exaggerating, or attributing motives and attributes to the man for which he has no factual basis, I am counted among the “sycophants” (has anyone else wondered how MvR could have had the odds “95% in his favor” when for much of the war, the Germans were outnumbered by a factor of around 2-1?).

By the way, Jim has recently defended the off-topic threads by saying that he gets bored with just discussing WWI Aviation. If he, who claims to be fascinated by History, cannot remain interested, how can he complain so loudly that High School students will not learn the subject (just wondering – although consistency hasn’t always been one of Jim’s strong suits)?

I have, like most here, visited many websites. In almost all of them, you can find interesting and/or enlightening information, and often learn from people all over the world, some of whom have a very impressive knowledge of or background in a particular subject. You also will find the occasional bomb-throwers, juvenile idiots, conspiracy theorists, pointless nastiness, and just plain morons. This site and a couple of others have become my favorite places to visit, mostly because such things are (usually) kept to a minimum, people have been genuinely helpful, and the regulars have become something of a community. On The Aerodrome, this seems to have changed significantly in the last few weeks.

Rich

[Amy]

I agree with Darryl, Rich's, et al viewpoint on the off-topic threads. I, like Rich, listen to enough of talk radio to get my daily dose of America's problems. I like visiting the Forum to get away from the depressing discussions on the U.S. government and read about a topic I enjoy reading about...that topic being WWI Aviation.

Furthermore, some of the mud-slinging that goes on around here is OOC. If this keeps up, a producer from that "social rot" program called the Jerry Springer Show is going to be posting messages to invite all of us Forumites on his show for one big showdown. Ugh, I cringe at that thought.

That's all.

[Billy_Bishop]

AT LAST!!!! A note of sanity among the insane!!

If you look through John L's thread, you'll see my first post in there where I pointed out how off topic it was. What did I get for my trouble? Well, let's just say that being the guest of honor on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast would have been a lot nicer.

As for my "Chicago Weather" thread, that was just to bring more attention to this problem.

From my point of view, it's one thing if a thread starts on topic and then strays off course. That happens a lot here, and I don't think too many of us mind that from time to time.

But to start an off topic thread to begin with?

Let me just say that I have two forums on Delphi Forums, and if someone started an off topic thread there, it would get deleted AS SOON as I found out. AND the person who started it would be informed that the subject was off topic!

I don't mean to attack what anyone has done in starting these off topic threads, but I think they should think a little more about this. IF they want to talk about the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution, then please, start that conversation in an appropriate place. THIS Forum is not that place. I'm really surprised that Scott hasn't taken it down yet, but I suppose he's too busy with other things.

And I too am a member of the NRA, and I happen to think that the 2nd Amendment REAFFIRMS my GOD-GIVEN right to keep and bear arms.

BUT, I don't think this is the proper place to start a thread discussing that detail.

The above is simply my humble opinion.

VBR,

Al Lowe

Dear Aal, et al. When I first came onto this forum, I was 100% on topic every time. I'm not somebody who knows nothing of WW-I Aviation, since I was a member of the original Cross & Cockade right from 1970. The snubs, insults, personal attacks and generally nasty treatment I received from forumites really got under my skin. I asked pertinent questions pertaining to my only areas of expertise, which are armament and rotary engines. Then when I posted something about MvR, I was treated like I had urinated into the Holy Grail. I did not invent off topic threads (witness the number still showing.) I did not shoot down MvR with ground fire, and I did not crucify Christ. But, for a while I was having to strike out at everything within a 360 degree circle.
I call this an outrage and certainly not in the spirit of Cross & Cockade. I am not normally nasty or disruptive, but I am still treating the wounds inflicted by self-styled "Experts" that would have garnered a backhand swat from some of the original C&C members.
I hope I make myself plain. I am tired of turning the other cheek, only to receive a harder blow there. So, until I see a change in climate, I HATE EVERYBODY! Sorry that I can't get really excited about Aces or airoplanes...only what kept them aloft and what they were armed with. If that makes me an outcast these days, so be it! And now you know!

John L.

I personally do not know a lot about early aircraft armament or rotary engines but I do find these subjects fascinating. I am sorry if I do not contribute to armament/power plant type threads but I simply do not have a lot of knowledge to contribute there. This does not mean I do not read such threads and find them interesting. I would wager I am not the only such forumite who fits this description. There are others who prowl here who do seem to know something about the subject however, Michael Skeet, Barrett Tillman, Dave Watts, Matt Witt, and Mr Chattering Spandau (of negativism?) come to mind immediately.

I am sorry that you caught hell when you initiated the MvR burial thread, apparently you must have caught most of it in the emails since the only hostile response I saw in the thread was from chris s. and his ire was directed at Carisella. Anyone who would email you something negative about that without contributing on the thread is way out of line I think and I am sorry that sort of thing happened to you.

Most of the anger expressed openly on the forum of late seems to be closely linked with the political/off topic threads for some reason. That is why I generally try to avoid them anymore.
I think that if some sort of thread is making me angry and teaching me nothing about what I clicked on this site for, avoidance is the best policy.

Very best regards,

MDD

[Billy_Bishop]

I'd just like to say that my original FIRST post to the thread on the 2nd Amendment was not meant as an attack. I was simply trying to point something out, that I thought was obvious.

But that is, unfortunately the nature of the beast. When we type messages here, no one can see our intended inflection.

I have taken, in light of other more obvious attacks on me in the past, not to read inflection into any message, but instead to look at the words and figure out if the person who typed them is insulting me. IN the case of a statement someone made once about my son, I knew right away it was a verbal attack.

In any event, I am backing off at this point, and basically will not be attempting any more citizens' arrest.

Until next time,

Al Lowe

[Billy_Bishop]

IF there's a message thread that's talking about something that you have little knowledge in, but maybe you're interested in, ASK!!!

I don't know about anyone else, but I love answering questions about this subject. I don't have all the answers, but I have quite a few.

VBR,

Al Lowe