How about posters that LACK a sense of humor? I got ragged on due to my Francophile innuendos......if ya can't take a joke....stay outta PARF.....

I try to be civil, but there are a few who say I'm not, or one sided. Whatever. Try not to type something that you wouldn't say to that persons face.

I find that I'm perusing the forums less and less lately, primarily due to the immediate sniping and poo-flinging that happens in most of the threads between a small group of "regulars".

Everyone seems to have their own little arch enemy on here, and feels it's their obligation to make some BS comment in reply to anything that they post. Most of the time it's nowhere near on topic, derails the thread, or PARF's it, but it ALWAYS leaves a bad taste to the thread.

More than anything, it's this childish disrespect for the others that follow along the threads that disappoints me.

Sure, it's primarily 20 or so members, but their presence is pervasive, and it greatly devalues the threads and the forum for me.

Who knows, maybe it's just me, but I tend to think I'm not the only one.

More often than not I find myself thinking "oh, just STFU already and leave the thread alone".

$0.02

A Seabee!!!! Very cool, and a VERY good story. Funny how we remember such soft but so poignant lessons. Again, that is just a fantastic story. Is he still with us??

That's what is so irritating about you DARISC, just when I want to go off on ya, you post some very great stuff. Could ya just stop that behavior for a time so I can vent???;)

It is your god given right as an American to make fun of the french.

There is a big difference between coming into a conversation to discuss topics or express a viewpoint and coming into a conversation to validate personal beliefs by making others wrong.

There are a number of people on this board who find my posts offensive simply because I choose to disagree with them. There are a number of people who do not find their own posts to others offensive, simply because they ''know'' they are right.

Am I one of them ? I am not sure. There have been a few times I have jumped all over someone. I'm sure I felt justified. I certainly know when I am reading someone the riot act.

Daniel, just because I stongly disagree with you on taxes, doesn't mean I wouldn't have a beer with you. (You buying of course). j/k

No Dan, he passed many years ago, but he lived a long and full life. He was a welder. During WWII, a lot of Liberty ships suffered cracked prop shafts that put them out of commission because they couldn't weld them in place while at sea. My uncle asked for and was given a crack at it. He succeeded and trained others how to do it.

When he finished his hitch the Navy hired him and set him up in a lab at Lehigh University in PA, designed and built to his specifications, where he was given free reign to do research, refine and develop welding techniques that were used in the war effort.

At one point in his life he welded in place the top component of an antenna that was at the time the very top point of the Empire State Building.

He was a trout fisherman and a deer hunter, a long time member of a group of ball and cap riflemen in eastern PA.

I miss him.

How could you not! He still lives on.

I appreciate that Hugh.

He can afford it. He's RICH, you know. He has a Camry and an 80's Carrera.:eek::eek:

Kachi and I had lunch in Michigan a few months ago, he's about as liberal as you can get, and we had a great time. I'm always up for polite, thoughtful discussions with people where we may agree or disagree.

Yeah, but you're a rock star. You've got me beat by a country mile.

DARISC, my condolences for such a keen loss. More than a few posters have indeed recognized their mis-steps and have owned up to them. It is to the intransigent that I hope to reach with this thread. I guess that hope is in conflict with itself now that I see it typed but I'll soldier on none the less . And I think you're correct...politics and religion do seem to spark the most personal insults of all. Perhaps the personal investment people make in such beliefs is what is the motivator?

DD , I think hits a point. That is coming here to validate a personal belief rather than enter a discussion. More than once I've felt my bile rise when a statement I've made or question I've raised caused someone to accuse me of belonging to a particular "ilk". You guys may have noticed that I rarely respond to such statements but I do get tempted to issue an E-b1tch slap.

Jeff, it's not just you. i feel exaclty the same way and have begun to avoid OT and PARF. I thread that I started a month or two ago on the subject of civility lasted about two posts before the BS began and it was shipped to PARF. I will continue to lurk, but am less inclined to join in.

Your right Tom. And your left too. On top of that, you're right!

Better to lurk than be a jerk.

Some people nevvvver learn.:rolleyes:

.....Hey wait a minute! Am I calling myself a slow learner?!! :mad:

Thanks flatbutt; for that and for rekindling a fond old memory.

So why not post this thread in PARF too?

I'm enjoying the civil exchanges just fine right here.

Yeah. My point is that also posting this in PARF would further make your point. :cool: