[ExI] FW: moderation in all things

[spike]

Greetings fellow extropians!
 
On the subject of moderation, I am reluctantly and belatedly offering my
resignation as moderator.  This resignation is at least a couple months
overdue, for I really haven't been doing much, other than occasionally
looking in the hold bucket and letting almost everything through.   The term
"offering" is understated; rather I must gently insist, for I intend to make
a few changes in my life forthwith, one of which is to go to daily digest
Exi-chat for a while, perhaps as long as the duration of the summer, and
unsub to all other internet lists besides this one.  Please I hope one or
more of you will step up to the plate and take on this moderation task, so
we can keep this list going, which I have enjoyed so much for the past dozen
years.   
 
With this email, I can cheerfully announce a personal and professional
triumph that has allowed me to return early from a business trip to the east
coast, and now I will be able to stay home for the next eight to ten weeks,
perhaps longer.  I never expected this insane sprint to last all spring.
For the last six weeks, my own boss has had to stand tall on the carpet
every morning in front of the brass to explain in painful detail why my
hardware hasn't been delivered and what he and I were doing to rectify this
sitch immediately.  Now we don't need to do that anymore, thank evolution.
 
It is said that moderating Exi-chat is a thankless task, but I disagree.  It
is a sometimes thankful task, for someone once posted me:
 
>...Spike, I appreciate your laissez faire approach to moderating the
list...
 
Faire?  Well, thanks, I like to think I give everyone an even break, but
Laissez?  No WAY Jose, not a chance!  I have been working my butt off this
past year, the most insanely busy of my professional career, with thirty
trips to the east coast in 15 months, back there every single week for the
past five including this one.  New Jersey expects me to pay taxes in that
state.  This I flatly refuse to do.  Sue me.  In the past half a year I have
had to pass up good times with friends, chess club, a wicked cool project
working with Keith Henson, something I deeply regret having no time to do,
and of course my family has sacrificed as well, suffering my absense early
and often.  This routine for the past five weeks is Monday in the home
office, catch the 10:40pm flight out of San Francisco to Newark NJ, or JFK
if the Newark flight is full, arriving at crack of dawn Tuesday, head
straight to the office, then Wednesday and Thursday in the east coast
office, catch the 6:20 pm flight back, arriving at 9:45 pm (and hoping I
don't catch the swine flu resulting in illness or serious death) so I can
make the usual Friday meetings in the home office.  I will not miss that
exhausting routine for one minute, nor will I pay New Jersey income taxes,
nooo way.
 
I currently have over two thousand unread messages in my in box, about half
of it Exi-chat stuff, some of it a couple months old, for I don't get
Exi-chat or personal email while on the road, only business email.  I just
fell behind, after reading everything on Exi-chat for a dozen years.  Most
of that may hafta go in the bit bucket unread.  United Airlines is offering
me all these free trips, for I have flown on them farther than the distance
to the moon, which Armstrong and Aldrin did in a mere three days, but I
don't want any of their lousy plane tickets!  I don't want any premier
executive red carpet yakkity yaks or bla blas, I just want some stay-home
tickets.  I like airplanes.  I just don't like airports and actually flying
in the damn things.  I don't like sitting next to hemans either, ewwww yuk,
germ factories are we.  Well, I am not, but everyone else is.  My own germs
never bothered me, but their's bothered me.  Actually germs are kinda cool;
wiggly little things that can go all over the place, or at least mine are.
The other proles' germs are filthy disease carrying pathogens, stalking me
constantly, wishing to fight with my own germs, just to be mean.  But I
digress.
 
Regarding my experience with Exi-chat, I will share some insider gossip you
may find interesting, and perhaps say something helpful to the next
moderator.  About four years ago, we tried having three moderators, with the
notion that we would confer and try to come to a three way unanimous
agreement on any action.  That didn't work.  I can't recall one single
occasion where the three of us agreed, and so we tended to block ourselves
and do nothing.  In retrospect this was my fault, for I usually wanted to
allow everything, and it wasn't the right thing, for some of the stuff that
is posted is downright offensive.  Of course, I like being offended, but
still.  The right way is to have a single moderator, and rotate the job
around about every six months or so.  I kept getting in trouble because I
would never spank anyone, even those who richly deserved it.  And I like
spanking.  But I digress.  
 
Some here may recall when the list was attacked by those new transhumanist
religion folks, led by I think his name mighta been Derk or Dark or
something like that, and that weird chick that met him here and became his
minion.  Usually one must have at least two minions to make an honest
plural, but I think Durk had just the one minion.  What happens if two
people are doting followers, and neither a leader?  Do they become each
others' minion?  Are the then co-minions?  Or is it a minion and her manion?
If they take holy observances are they then co-minions in communion?  The
world may never know.  In any case, they were bad news and had to go and so
we had that unpleasant episode where they and a whole bunch of other people
were tossed into the penalty box including myself, for overposting.  We
spent several days spanking each other.  That part was cool, but some never
came back, which was sad.  I had to throw myself in there, but fortunately
for me, the moderator has the power to lift himself by the hair of his own
head, back out, which is what I did, along with all the others except Dork
and his co-minion.  I never found out what happened to them.  If you know
don't tell me, for I don't *even* need to know.
 
When an elected offical resigns mid term due to some scurrilous scandal, the
usual claim is that he wishes to spend more tiiime with his faaaamily.  Why
do they always make that silly comment?  My resignation is kinda like that,
except for four minor points.  First, I never expected to be doing this job
for this long, so it isn't really an untimely resignation, and second, I am
not an elected official, or if so, I stole the election.  Third, I haven't
done any actual scandals (but I am always open to suggestion of course,
scurrilous or otherwise.)  Last, the reprehensible elected official will
make this claim of wanting to spend more tiiime with his faaaamily even if
his closest living relative is an illegitimate adopted half third cousin
once removed (by way of his second ex wife) who lives in prison on a
different continent.  I on the other hand, have an actual family, including
six ageing parents, all of whom have at least one serious health problem and
need my help.  Shelly and I celebrated our golden anniversary in March, and
my son turns 3 in June.  Life is goooood.  {8-]  But there isn't time for
everything, ja?
 
That being said, all I really ask is a little respect.  And a condo at
Aspen.  And a Maserati testarossa.  And godlike power over life and death,
but that's all I really want.  Hell, keep the car, the resort and the
respect, but that godlike power would be waaaay cool.  I would banish the
hell outta death, forthwith.
  
Now please someone step up and moderate this fine list.  I nominate John
Grigg.  Isn't the Griggmeister about the nicest guy you ever met?  Johnny I
respectfully offer you the badge sir.  We will do whatever you say.  Well,
not really, but we will cheer you on and will be cool if you serve only the
six month term we originally envisioned nearly four years ago.  I will never
utter a word of complaint, nor will anyone who has served as Exi-chat
moderator, or plans to do so.  

Exi-chatters, thank you all for writing such interesting stuff during my
term.  Please keep it up, turn it up, read the principles of extropy and do
them bigtime.
 
spike
 
http://www.maxmore.com/extprn3.htm