Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

"More MSA March Madness™"

19. March 2006 • David Boyle
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—There have been calls from various quarters for an AU endorsement of various contestants in the MSA elections; but sorry, no endorsement of any person or party by this author. Prayer may work, though. (“Oh Lord, please give me an MSA seat…AND a Mercedes-Benz”)
—There is “chatter”, as the NSA might say, that some conservative elements of S4M are not happy that SCP may take away some conservative votes from them. This could be worse than Bush vs. McCain! Oh well.
One also hears rumorage that SCP is changing (or briefly changed?) its name to Student Choice Party? If so, that change has not registered on their own website at http://scparty.org/ ; so they are conserving “Conservative” rather than choosing “Choice”. Maybe they’re just trying to “take votes away from S4M”—those SCP troublemakers!! (heh)
—As for bloggery: SCP strikes again, with http://www.insidethemsa.com/ . I do not know if insidethemsa is accurate, but it is entertaining, e.g., some of the bullet points, ”* Ludicrous things MSA is doing with your money …* Random examples of absurdness in MSA”.
One of the MPP blog entries has heated up very much comment-wise (still ongoing!), see Travis Radina, Stuart Wagner, and others, on MSA finances, at http://trformsa.blog.com/615179/ .
The S4M blog is at http://votes4m.com/blog/ .
(There is a DAAP link too, but it hasn’t been updated recently, I hear, so…)

All this MSA March Madness “™” is almost as fun as UM Regents’ meetings, including the one yesterday where one Regent was shouting and pointing her/his finger at a pro-divestment-from-Israel activist after the meeting, and I got to talk to Mary Sue Coleman (and the whole audience) about Free Press reporter John Bebow’s allegation that she slandered him .
I have always maintained that Regents’ meetings Public Comments time is the best hour of free entertainment available in Ann Arbor.

“Jesus! How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”—Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (RIP), in “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72”



  1. Maybe the formatting could be cleaned up on this post a bit.


       —Dale    Mar. 19 '06 - 02:49AM    #
  2. This shit happens in a total vacuum – aside, of course, from your occasional updates, giving us all a glimpse of the strange world of campus politics. Thanks to you, David, I know more about this MSA election than I did when I was a UM student… not a difficult record to surpass given I knew next to nothing about MSA.

    Things I do know:

    1) They get to play with a lot of student money;
    2) Matt Nolan once was president (As he is apt to remind us all)
    3) Matt Nolan was the best MSA president ever (As he is apt to remind us all)

    Is that it?


       —Daniel adams    Mar. 19 '06 - 02:49AM    #
  3. D: What is formatting prob? I know the URL’s look a little ugly, but that realistic look is good sometimes…
    D: You’re welcome!—What’s this about ol’ M. No.?—& don’t forget aff action issues! and other “real world” politics that MSA deals with…


       —David Boyle    Mar. 19 '06 - 03:59AM    #
  4. Does anyone else think it’s amusing that a single man, David Boyle, has managed to erode most of this blog’s credibility?


       —Mark    Mar. 19 '06 - 01:22PM    #
  5. No.

    (/snark)


       —David Boyle    Mar. 19 '06 - 10:02PM    #
  6. While I’m put out that my blog (http://electriccounterpoint.blogspot.com/) didn’t get a mention, that’s not why I’m commenting. I just wanted to clarify re: the debate on TR’s blog. I’m running for LSA-SG vp, so (as far as I know) we’re actually discussing LSA-SG finances—MSA is somethin’ else entirely.


       —Dan    Mar. 20 '06 - 01:38AM    #
  7. Nice blog Dan but the margins need to be changed, the main message is covered by right-margin overlap.

    ...TR blog does seem to mention MSA finances explicitly, at least some… Good luck in race!
       —David Boyle    Mar. 20 '06 - 01:52AM    #
  8. Blog ate my last comment, but I’ll do this as test…


       —David Boyle    Mar. 20 '06 - 04:47AM    #
  9. Mark, I’d say it’s more sad than amusing. It’s almost more trouble than it’s worth searching for relevant posts/comments amidst the out of control, ego-trip fueled bullshit that Boyle litters the site with. It’s disappointing that he’s allowed to do this to a valuable community resource. Please, Brandon, Dale, Josh, Julie and Murph (if he’s still keeping up) play the role of grown-ups and either reign him in or muzzle him. He can comment, but he’s really not mature enough to be a top-level poster. And I say this as one who recognizes that I, myself, also lack the maturity and self-control. For the sake of the integrity of Arbor Update, I implore you.


       —Parking Structure Dude!    Mar. 20 '06 - 05:41AM    #
  10. (This is a copy of an email I’ve sent out to some corners of campus. It contains my personal endorsements for MSA and LSA-SG races)

    Hey Folks—
    Wondering who the hell to vote for? Good question-things are a little crazy this year.

    MSA elections are coming next week (the 21st, I believe), and I thought I’d pass along
    my personal recommendations for MSA. These are not SOLE’s official endorsement, but
    merely my musings. I used to have a place on the assembly as the Peace and Justice
    co-chair, and as much as it pains me, I still pay attention to all this shit.
    On a note of disclosure, I have never been a member of or candidate for any MSA party
    standing in this election.

    President and Vice-President:

    -Rese Fox and Walter Nowinski (MPP)

    Largely I’ve been impressed by MPP. Before they started running candidates, they
    started organizing neighborhood associations that can help students get a fair deal
    from landlords. Additionally, they MPP is a member of the Raise the Wage coalition and
    has actively contributed to the campaign. Their platform includes opposition to the
    MCRI, and support for common-sense campus initiatives like housing, campus-safety
    phones in the neighborhoods, busting the textbook cartel through earlier online
    listing, university-sponsored test prep, fair exchange for cafeteria meals on your
    entre plus money, and some fiscal discipline (no more Ludicris-esque debacles).
    What’s really exciting about MPP is that they seem to be a real organization with
    values that’s involved in the community, regardless of how many seats they have on the
    assembly. The opposition, S4M, can only claim to be an election machine.
    Rese has been on the assembly for several years, understands many of its ins and outs,
    and has always stood up for her beliefs. Lately, those include the fight to
    enfranchise a PIRGIM chapter and also to make sure that MSA has a sound system to track
    lobbying expenditures.

    MSA-LSA Candidates:

    Art Reyes
    (MPP)
    Art is a member of SOLE and comes from a long line of union organizers in Flint,
    Michigan. In the past, he was a political organizer for a really progressive candidate
    for Mayor of Lansing. He’s shown great commitment to his values on campus, and has
    done great work against sweatshops, supporting the striking Northwest Mechanics, and is
    back home every other weekend helping the UAW gear-up for the fight against GM.

    Rachel Feldman
    (MPP)
    Rachel is a member of MIRA and is very knowledgable about student/labor issues. She
    has been working on the Worker Center Project, which is an attempt to help local
    immigrant workers form their own community and advocacy space.

    Jen Hsu
    (MPP)
    Jen is the co-chair of the LGBT Affairs Commission. Jen’s the kind of candidate I
    like—got involved in MSA as a non-voting commission chair because of concern for issues, not the glamor of winning elections. Now, I think Jen deserves a seat at
    the table.

    Colin Venettis
    (MPP)
    Colin has been involved in the College Dems for a long time. He’s a fellow RC student,
    and has been involved in fights on affirmative action.

    Travis Radina
    (MPP)
    Travis is a member of the College Dems and has been active on the Raise the Wage
    campaign.

    Staci Daniels
    (S4M)
    Staci is the one S4M candidate I am endorsing this year. She’s been involved in the
    Dems, and has been a lead organizer in Students Supporting Affirmative Action. She’s
    smart and has her shit together.

    Ken Baker
    (Ind)
    As an independent in a crowded race, Ken has a tough fight ahead of him. He’s currently
    on LSA-SG, and though I don’t necessarily agree with all his votes, he’s generally
    seemed principled. He also mentioned an issue that no one else has: getting health
    care coverage for uninsured students.

    Engineering

    Saamirr Rahman
    (MPP)
    Saamirr is a member of SOLE and is currently on the assembly. He’s also the current
    chair of the North Campus Affairs commission. Sam has spent his time on the assembly
    quietly getting things done for his constituents, like holding more activities on North
    Campus.

    LSA-SG

    Daryn Haynes
    (MPP)
    Daryn is a member of SOLE and has been extremely busy getting Mary Sue to take
    sweatshops seriously. Daryn has always been focused on getting done the serious work
    that makes organizations function—websites, phone lists, task assignments, reminder
    calls. He makes sure that everything gets done and well—qualities that are often
    lacking in student government candidates. He also wants to get more computer terminals
    on central campus so we’re not waiting around, swimming aimlessly through the fishbowl.


       —bates    Mar. 20 '06 - 08:09AM    #
  11. Let’s put it this way, David. None of the other posters are embarrassing the site with poor writing, bad judgement, and a shameful lack of respect for readability. Can you seriously ask with a straight face what the formatting problems are in this post? It’s an eyesore. I imagine many of the readers on the site have no idea that your writing is so bad because they won’t bother wading through such a poorly presented “post”.

    Also, profanity or not, PSD is right; even when you are posting about reputable news (occasionally related to Ann Arbor, even for those of us without wild imaginations), you can’t resist popping in with your immature editorial comments. It makes you look bad, and it makes the site look bad, and plenty of us are really sick of it.

    I thought the other top-level posters had talked to David Boyle and asked him to shape up. He’s clearly ignoring that, as well as the constructive criticism some of us have offered. So here’s a request—would somebody PLEASE take action before he scares everyone off?

    Further, when selecting posters in the future, I’d highly recommend requiring writing samples, along with a basic logic test and a quiz entitled “Is this topic related to Ann Arbor in a noteable way?”


       —Kelli    Mar. 20 '06 - 09:41AM    #
  12. David,

    Your posting 4 (four!) messages immediately after mine in an attempt to bury my comments pretty much proves my point. Immature.

    Murph! Please, it’s not too late! I’ll buy you a house in Ann Arbor, but please come and help!


       —Parking Structure Dude!    Mar. 20 '06 - 10:13AM    #
  13. You know what’s ironic? Spending all your time complaining about a poster for not writing relevant things is pretty…irrelevant. And it also makes this thread useless for people interested in talking about the topic. Try posting some content.

    This is an email that’s been going around campus. I think it’s somewhat important for progressives to understand what they’re voting for when they check the S4M box:

    Newsflash

    On Friday Students 4 Michigan sent an email where they claimed to be the true voice of conservatives on campus. In the email S4M claims that:

    – “The Student Conservative party will not stand up for our [conservative] values.” – S4M is the only party that will really stand up and represent “our [conservative] values” – That S4M is made up of the “former Chair of College Republicans,” “current College Republican e-boarder, Brian Steers, along with many other conservatives.”

    S4M has decided to make it very clear, if you want to stand up for conservative values than you should vote for Students 4 Michigan, because apparently they are the real conservatives on campus.

    The pertinent email is below. Bold emphasis has been added.
    ———————————————————————————————————————— From: Allison Jacobs Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:59:39 To: campusconservatives@umich.edu

    ... The Michigan Progressive Party will never represent conservative students on campus. MPP will wrongly use our student fees for lobbying on issues we don’t believe in and causes we don’t support or that affect campus at all. They will make student government an unnecessarily politicized environment in which conservatives will feel disenfranchised.

    That being said, we conservatives must band together because we have an even greater problem on our hands that we must work to solve.

    Do you remember the 1992 election when George H. W. Bush lost to Clinton because of Ross Perot and in 2000 when Al Gore lost because of Ralph Nader? While voting for the ideological favorite, the citizens wound up skewing the results and electing a candidate who represents the far opposite of what they wanted. Voting for the Student “Conservative” Party will cause the same effect. We must act strategically and vote for Students 4 Michigan in order to ensure that our interests are represented in student government.

    While claiming to represent the conservative voice on campus, the Student “Conservative” Party does not have the values, ideas, or experience needed to make a significant impact on MSA after this election. Undoubtedly, we agree with SCP’s goal to reduce national politics in MSA, but they have no other ideas and are backing down from supporting any other conservative issues and ideals. ...

    If the Student “Conservative” Party won’t stand up for our values while using our name, and if the Michigan Progressive Party’s main goal is to actively work against conservative values, our choice in the upcoming elections is clear. We must act strategically and vote for Students 4 Michigan.
    ... As former Chair of College Republicans and with S4M running a current College Republican e-boarder, Brian Steers, along with many other conservatives, moderates, and candidates who just don’t believe in national politics affecting MSA, I urge you not to allow the Bush incident of 1992 to happen again here on campus and vote for Students 4 Michigan.

    VOTE S4M on March 21st and 22nd; a party that will stand up for OUR values. For more information on our party and our candidates check our website out. . www.votes4m.com!

    Ally Jacobs (Candidate for Re-election MSA-LSA) & Brian Steers (Candidate for MSA-Engin)


       —bates    Mar. 20 '06 - 08:47PM    #
  14. Bates:

    Most of what you’ve posted is just typical MSA/LSA-SG partisan bullshit. I’m not a total student government cynic, but I don’t believe that posting an partisan email – which was theoretically sent out to all those even remotely interested in the information – on this weblog is a particularly useful exercise.

    Ok, maybe I am a student government cynic. Perhaps that’s because as I try to remember all the things that student government has ever done for me, a lifelong student, and I can only think of one thing: Fall break. I weigh that one thing against all the time I’ve spent over the years listening to candidates, voting in elections, and occasionally giving a crap, and I come to the conclusion that student government has been a net drain on my life. Negative utility. It has stolen from me and continues to steal from me even as I write this response.

    Mostly, SG is a bunch of kids throwing around big words and money. They do their dance to the tune of Robert’s Rules, yell and pat each other on the back. The money gets distributed, resumes are padded, administrators are pestered for things, students are rebuffed, and the circle of life continues to turn.

    I’m fine with that. I draw the line, however, when someone implies that MSA and LSA-SG are worth a fraction of a second more of my time. False.


       —Daniel Adams    Mar. 20 '06 - 10:35PM    #
  15. You know what’s ironic? Spending all your time complaining about a poster for not writing relevant things is pretty…irrelevant.

    Bates, please reread the criticisms of David Boyle. Time and again the main issue brought up is the “immature editorial comments”, and this time in particular others are also doubting the quality of formatting.

    And it also makes this thread useless for people interested in talking about the topic.

    Now, reread the last few paragraphs of D-BO’s post – that’s the immature editorial bit which people have commented on. No irony, no irrelevance.

    For the record, I’m glad to see news on student issues. Had D-BO ended his post a few paragraphs earlier no one would have said anything. This sentiment has been conveyed to him in many ways, from calm and collected constructive comments to curse-ridden tirades, and from the looks of it he hasn’t heard a word of any of it.


       —FAA    Mar. 20 '06 - 10:38PM    #
  16. Dan—
    If you don’t care, then stop reading and writing about it.


       —bates    Mar. 20 '06 - 10:52PM    #
  17. Bates:

    You’re wrong: I do care. I care to tell you that I don’t care who wins this election. I care to assert that MSA, LSA-SG and student government are significant organizations only to the handful of individuals, most of whom are current or past representatives themselves.

    I care just enough to comment on your posts. No more. But if you can’t or won’t grant me this distiction, I’m perfectly comfortable acknowledging a bit of hypocrisy if that would allow you to focus on the very narrow point that I’m trying to make. That is, SG, particularly on UM campus, is largely a waste of chalk, paper and time.


       —Daniel Adams    Mar. 20 '06 - 11:51PM    #
  18. Dan & bates: U r both cool people, glad to see you both on this site.

    K: Your bothering to bother bates, among others, with your comments does not speak well of you, whoever you are. (Again, critics who waste time criticizing my pieces are largely anonymous or unknown; a very bad sign. )
    I will probably format a little prettier in the future, but one time with URL’s sticking out is not going to kill anybody, either.
    As for “scaring everyone off”: this is nonsense. Even if some people dislike the humor in my posts, I also have gotten a lot of people to post who might not have posted otherwise.

    PTSD!!!!: Paranoia is unwarranted; I posted several times in a row because I was having computer trouble (see comment 8), and was trying to see if by breaking up my large comment into pieces, I could get the post to work. No one is trying to keep your comment from being heard, mi amigo.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 12:16AM    #
  19. “Again, critics who waste time criticizing my pieces are largely anonymous or unknown”

    Really?

    “I also have gotten a lot of people to post who might not have posted otherwise.”

    For example?


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 12:37AM    #
  20. Yes, Bruce; plenty of anonymous posters.
    Since few other contributors post often about campus issues, I have gotten many people to post and read, people who do not find urban planning and zoning minutiae to be the most exciting topics in the whole world. By doing this, I not only get new people to post, I show faith to the vision of people like Rob Goodspeed, a person of whom you know: someone who had the good sense to post frequently here on campus issues, as I am doing to improve Arbor Update.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 12:46AM    #
  21. “Yes, Bruce; plenty of anonymous posters.”

    Of course. But there’s also been lots of non-anonymous criticism. And you said the criticism was “largely” anonymous.

    So can you present any evidence that anonymous posting is any more common among your critics than it is in general?

    “I not only get new people to post”

    Again, can you actually point to any examples of such people?


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 01:32AM    #
  22. Word on the street is many people have stopped reading because they have no interest in rambling minutae about MSA elections and “exposing” the Michigan Daily.


       —Brandon    Mar. 21 '06 - 01:33AM    #
  23. There has been non-anonymous; but (without going back to count months of posts), a huge proportion has been from anonymous folks.
    Looking at, for example, my posts on MSA, I see various people who have not posted here before to my memory, or not posted much. This is natural, as some people are not interested in all topics. Since I cover topics that not all posters here cover, it is natural that my posts would elicit comments, and commenters, that other folks’ articles might not elicit. And vice versa: folks post on other people’s articles, who might not post on mine.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 01:37AM    #
  24. I am not going to fail to cover important news because of people’s apathy. If they can’t stand relevance, the worse for them. I refuse to censor myself in that way.
    On the Michigan Daily cartoons insulting black people, the issue actually made the television news. This is not irrelevant stuff. Nor is anything I mention, to my knowledge.
    In any medium, a shift in content may lower interest by some people, and heighten interest by others. However, I intend to continue posting on relevant, and frequently campus-related, issues, even if some readers cannot handle that. I respect open-mindedness more than closed-mindedness, as a rule.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 01:41AM    #
  25. ”(without going back to count months of posts), a huge proportion has been from anonymous folks.”

    Could you please go count if you’re going to make that claim again?

    “This is natural, as some people are not interested in all topics.”

    Yes, you’ve said that 3 times already. Could you give a single example of such a person?

    And you’re completely missing the point of the criticism: it’s not about choice of topics (you’re appreciated exactly because you post on subjects that others don’t) but quantity (the current front page has twice as many contributions from you as from any other single poster), and quality (you’re not taking the time to edit out extraneous asides before posting).


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 02:14AM    #
  26. No, I’ll not take my time to count; but I seem to recall that it was so. At least a significant portion of crit has been from anonymous folks, though.
    I am not going to single out a “new/more frequent” person, as there seem to be so many of them.
    As for quality: I appreciate stylistic criticism, and I am amenable to listening to it carefully. Re quantity, though: is the solution to have some people post less, or to urge others to post more? I am not being sarcastic, either. I respect other posters enough to desire to see them posting more often, since I enjoy reading what they have to say.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 02:35AM    #
  27. Again, critics who waste time criticizing my pieces are largely anonymous or unknown; a very bad sign.

    Are critics wasting time because you think you’re never wrong, D-BO, or are you honestly trying to discredit any negative word that comes your way from an unverified source?

    Perhaps my critiques will be taken seriously in the future if the byline under my comment reads Fernando Arroyo Alvarez or Fiona Annie Anderson...

    No, wait… Newsflash: This is an unsecured public forum. There is no login/password tied to a credit card and home address needed to post – we are all anonymous. Anyone can post under any name.

    The “but they we’re anonymous” card is the worst there is on the internet machine. But then again, that’s par for the course for D-BO.


       —FAA    Mar. 21 '06 - 02:55AM    #
  28. I don’t recall anyone who’s not me posting under my name—at least not yet.

    When people are hypercritical, and often foul-mouthed to boot, their refusal to even admit who they are doesn’t look too good…
    As for error: I can be wrong all the time, being a creature of error, like you. People are always welcome to correct any error they really think I made.
       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 02:59AM    #
  29. “As for quality: I appreciate stylistic criticism, and I am amenable to listening to it carefully.”

    Good; so maybe this is something we can work together on. How about this: when you create a new article, textpattern gives you the option of designating it a “draft” (instead of “live”). Do that, drop me an email, and give me a day or two—I’ll make some revisions, then give you the chance to check if they look OK and to make the article live. Sound OK?

    “is the solution to have some people post less, or to urge others to post more?”

    There’s no hard-and-fast answer—it depends on the readership, amount of posting, etc—but the concensus seems to be that your current rate (about 2 every 3 days) is too high. Clearly it’s much higher than any other poster. Think you could try keeping it to, say, one good article a week, for a while?


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 03:59AM    #
  30. Maybe, although I may try some stylistic variations of my own first. You may like them! Shall remember your kind offer, though.
    While not limiting myself to any number of articles, I think you will see my output “naturally” drop anyway, at least for a while, after the votes are counted in the MSA election…


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 04:08AM    #
  31. ”...Shall remember your kind offer, though…. While not limiting myself to any number of articles…”

    In other words, you don’t intend to take either suggestion?

    If you didn’t just obsess about the anonymous posters, you’d notice that your critics include the people who maintain the site.

    No one wants to remove one of the only contributors who posts on campus issues; but at this point if you aren’t going to do something obvious to answer criticism, and fast, there’s a good chance that’s what’s going to happen.


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 04:18AM    #
  32. If you read carefully what I said, I am not ignoring you; but if 1) I am going to be editing my own articles more stringently and 2) my output will almost certainly be diminishing after the current MSA election is over, that will probably address most of your concerns, I imagine.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 04:23AM    #
  33. “that will probably address most of your concerns, I imagine”

    No. I’d like a firm commitment to concrete changes (specifically, the two I suggested above). Absent that, I’d support any move to revoke authorship priveleges.


       —Bruce Fields    Mar. 21 '06 - 04:31AM    #
  34. David,

    Look, I’m a math graduate student at UM. My last name is Carlson. Are my complaints magically more valid now that I’m not anonymous? I still think you’re trashing AU, and I can still list the ways in which you’re doing so.

    For the most part, you seem capable of writing clear concise sentences. You do it in comments all the time. Why won’t you do it in your posts, without all the snarky commentary? Really, this isn’t an email to your best friend.

    For formatting, here’s a start. Try white space; it works wonders.

    Is it news that some people are calling for endorsements from AU? No, of course not. It’s just you rambling. That kind of thing is entirely inappropriate in this forum, and it needs to go.

    Again, can you have a little respect for the community? Could you get over the fact that some commenters are anonymous? Can you LISTEN to what they’re actually saying?


       —Kelli    Mar. 21 '06 - 08:21AM    #
  35. More space between paragraphs, you mean?
    Doable.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 08:28AM    #
  36. I don’t recall anyone who’s not me posting under my name—at least not yet.

    You’ve missed yet another point, D-BO. It’s not impersonation I spoke of, it’s verification. Given an actual name you can neither prove nor disprove who it is, so arguing either/or is pointless.

    When people are hypercritical, and often foul-mouthed to boot, their refusal to even admit who they are doesn’t look too good…

    Here, I’ll give one post under my name. I don’t see a difference. I look the same, your posts still look like a streak of shitty editorials, and your comments still look out of touch.


       —Sting    Mar. 21 '06 - 08:32AM    #
  37. Your name is probably not Sting, and you have an inappopriately foul mouth. I love being lectured on appropriateness by people who have no idea what that is. ...


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 08:39AM    #
  38. Your name is probably not Sting

    Sting’s name isn’t even Sting. Damn, that went way over your head.

    ...you have an inappopriately foul mouth. I love being lectured on appropriateness

    Fuck off, and I never said anything about appropriateness (remember when you thought spell check mattered?...use it ). 8-)


       —Sting    Mar. 21 '06 - 09:04AM    #
  39. Ah Gordon Sumner. Talented man. Sting-a-ding-ding.

    Oh I see, “inappopriately” in my post. “You got me there!”
       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 09:08AM    #
  40. “you have an inappopriately foul mouth.”

    Boyle, I was just perusing some of your “lyrics” today:

    “Arnold Fornicator, what a masturbator” ...so pure and virginal of you.

    And poetic.

    http://d-bo.com/GeorgeWPussy.html


       —Brandon    Mar. 21 '06 - 09:10AM    #
  41. “Masturbator” is not necessarily a dirty word itself, if it is being used to describe someone who…
    Arnold is a true masturbator, some would say, and some have even called him a “girlie man”. I never told him to “f*&k off” though!!!


       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 09:14AM    #
  42. ”....Not funny? Go fuck yourself.”

    http://d-bo.com/bushinamonologues.html

    D-BO, who has an explanation for everything, though, would claim that what is “inappopriate” for one site is not necessarily “inappopriate” for another.


       —FAA    Mar. 21 '06 - 10:16AM    #
  43. “Sting” has no responsibility with regards to appropriateness in comments. We put up with all kinds of crap in comments.

    Contributors to AU, however, are (and should be!) held to a higher standard, at least in their top-level posts, and they do need to pay careful attention to appropriateness. This is the point. Be as ridiculous as you want in the comments section. But in your posts, I think we’d all appreciate more thought, more editing, and far fewer stream of consciousness comments interjected into what ought to be a news item.

    And yes, for the love of all that is holy, put space between your paragraphs. It’s the internet; it’s not like you’re going to have to pay extra for printing costs.


       —Kelli    Mar. 21 '06 - 10:54AM    #
  44. In the Bushalogues, that is Bush talking. (And, from what I hear, the real-life Bush has a salty mouth at times.)

    I do not mind paragraph spacing, but one issue for me was that it could have made the posts larger, and put other people’s stuff further down the page. . .
       —David Boyle    Mar. 21 '06 - 11:03PM    #
  45. if that was really your concern, you would have edited out the editorial remarks instead.


       —billie    Mar. 22 '06 - 03:07AM    #
  46. Ha, ha, ha.—Well, I could put them in the comments area in the future, I suppose.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 22 '06 - 03:10AM    #
  47. hasn’t that been suggested many times?

    in fact, weren’t you bragging about doing just that a few weeks ago? (I’ll not take my time to count; but I seem to recall that it was so.)


       —peter honeyman    Mar. 22 '06 - 08:11AM    #
  48. I could do it more often, then.


       —David Boyle    Mar. 22 '06 - 08:28AM    #
  49. hasn’t that been suggested many times?

    Yes it has, Peter, by numerous readers. It dates back as far as Arbor Update poster Dale suggesting the very same thing 4 months ago.

    When these readers and posters suggest D-BO keep the editorial within the comments section he either ignores them, as he often does to Kelli, or he replies with a “I will, I should, I could”.

    Again, it has literally been months of readers and posters asking D-BO to end his editorial streak to no avail. I myself have asked for it to end nicely, and after no courteous response, very-not-so-nicely. I have, though, not once asked for D-BO to be removed or censored…until now.

    Revoking D-BO’s posting ability on the grounds that he injects too much opinion or occasionally goes off track with national news items may be a bit harsh. The fact that he has been repeatedly disrespectful to fellow posters and not once followed up on his “I will, I should, I could leave the editorial remarks for the comments” after multiple months, however, earns D-BO the labels of rude and liar. On the basis that David Boyle is rude to his fellow Arbor Update posters and lies about intent to leave editorials off the home page please revoke his ability to make top level posts.

    Thank you,


       —FAA    Mar. 22 '06 - 09:12PM    #
  50. I’m going to make an administrative request here.

    To FAA, Kelli, Peter, Sting, et al – thank you for your concerns; please understand that they’re being taken seriously.

    Since this thread has ceased to include any discussion of the actual topic, and has become a forum for debating personalities, I’m going to declare it closed, in order to free up the “recent comments” bar for topical discussion.

    Please direct further discussion about the MSA elections to the most recent relevant post

    Please direct further meta-comments on the site by e-mail to arborupdate@umich, or to me, murphyr@umich, if you’re somebody who wishes more strict confidentiality.


       —Murph.    Mar. 22 '06 - 09:44PM    #