I'm finished I can't take it

[Guest Ajax]

I will never support any vendor that promotes this board. Paul and Brian must go.

[Strife767]

I will never support any vendor that promotes this board.

Uh, I'm pretty sure it works the other way around--the board supports certain vendors and things.

Paul and Brian must go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Register and ignore them, or scroll past.

What exactly did you think this topic/post was going to accomplish? Do you think KOTW is going to muzzle either of them, or that either of them is going to stop posting after reading this? Honestly, what's the point of this?

[Guest Paul]

I will never support any vendor that promotes this board. Paul and Brian must go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have a serious question. Why don't you just put us on ignore? You'll have to sign up as a member, but so what?

It seems to me that there's nothing intrusive about our posting here. If you put someone on ignore, as I've done with Bryan, it's no longer a nuisance if that's how you receive it. It strikes me that something else is under your skin about this. Can you tell me why I should draw any other conclusion?

I'm trying to be fair here, and I don't wish to be a pain in the ass except to those who are being a pain in mine. And as you may have figured out by now, I'm not the kind of person who just goes away because someone doesn't like me or what I do. Give me a good explanation how I'm disrupting your use of this board in a way that you can't fix by putting me on ignore. I promise to give it serious consideration if you have a real reason, but I don't see how you could, especially given my experience ignoring Bryan recently. It really does make the problem go away. Why wouldn't it work for you?

[Guest Studies and Observations]

I will never support any vendor that promotes this board. Paul and Brian must go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well then.... Bye

[Guest Guest]

STRIFE too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[JoeW]

I'm trying to be fair here, and I don't wish to be a pain in the ass except to those who are being a pain in mine. And as you may have figured out by now, I'm not the kind of person who just goes away because someone doesn't like me or what I do. Give me a good explanation how I'm disrupting your use of this board in a way that you can't fix by putting me on ignore. I promise to give it serious consideration if you have a real reason, but I don't see how you could, especially given my experience ignoring Bryan recently. It really does make the problem go away. Why wouldn't it work for you?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because many of the long-time posters on this board have been driven away, myself included, by how this site has become totally dominated by one subject and the tangent threads it has produced.

JW

[Guest Paul]

Because many of the long-time posters on this board have been driven away, myself included, by how this site has become totally dominated by one subject and the tangent threads it has produced.

JW

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

With all due respect, that's not a reason for me to discontinue or curtail my posts. If you've been driven away, it is for other reasons.

[Guest JoeX]

Because many of the long-time posters on this board have been driven away, myself included, by how this site has become totally dominated by one subject and the tangent threads it has produced.

JW

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay, this is weak."Their talking about stuff I dont wanna talk about so I'll run away!!"

[Guest DingoDave]

JoeW wrote:

"Because many of the long-time posters on this board have been driven away, myself included, by how this site has become totally dominated by one subject and the tangent threads it has produced."

Simple solution. Don't read those particular threads, or just scroll past the postings that don't interest you.

[Guest Guest]

With all due respect, that's not a reason for me to discontinue or curtail my posts. If you've been driven away, it is for other reasons.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

With all due respect, I would know the reason I was "driven away".

JW

[Guest Guest]

With all due respect, that's not a reason for me to discontinue or curtail my posts. If you've been driven away, it is for other reasons.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here. People are tired of it.

[Strife767]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion.

Even though he is self-admittedly "deeply religious?" Interesting.

Christianity's not the only religion in the world, you know.

It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Registered users can put him on ignore if the want--the others can S**K it up. You're lucky to get the privilege to post at all; very few forums these days allow anonymous posting. You can't have it both ways. Either learn to use a scrollwheel or down arrow key or register and put whoever's posts you don't want to read on your ignore list.

Whining sure won't change anything in your favor, that's for sure.

[exbluetider]

Uh, I'm pretty sure it works the other way around--the board supports certain vendors and things.

Register and ignore them, or scroll past.

What exactly did you think this topic/post was going to accomplish? Do you think KOTW is going to muzzle either of them, or that either of them is going to stop posting after reading this? Honestly, what's the point of this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Bern]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I you're that sensitive, then its best that you left. Forums are not for you.

[Bern]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I you're that sensitive, then its best that you left. Forums are not for you.

[Guest Paul]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh no you don't. That's absolutely not true. I'm not fighting a battle against religion. I disagree with many things that religion has been distorted to become, and I'll make a case against any and all of that as I see fit. If you're sick of it, that's your problem. I am also fighting a battle for religious freedom for everyone, not just those in the majority. So if that drives you away, that's your choice. You can try to blame it on me, but you're the one making the choice, and I will tell you that you're being narrow-minded every time you try to do it that way. Because you are.

You don't own religion. I live and breathe my religion, and you don't speak for me, or a lot of other people either. I can't stop you from assuming that your religion is the only way, but I'm not buying your assumption.

[Guest Joe Raaaaalf]

Okay, this is weak."Their talking about stuff I dont wanna talk about so I'll run away!!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is little else here and it gets sandwiched between all this crap rhetoric about how, "I'm a more pompous ass than you, let me tell you about it.....".

Religion good - religion not good. God - no God. Chicken - egg. I got it, I got it ...... I ain't got it.

Enough is right.

[Guest 2smart4u]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How could anyone be tired of reading what a wonderful, intelligent, moral, perceptive, and always correct person Paul is. If Paul says there's no God, then it must be so.

[Guest Frank]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In other words, you respect neither his point of view nor his right to express it. It is so distasteful to you that you cannot even bear to listen, and the world will not be right until he stops and goes along with how you want things to be.

Are you equally angry with those who are persistent in promoting views you agree with? It doesn't seem so because you're not expressing anything like that.

Why isn't it OK to speak out against certain religious beliefs, especially the most outrageous and extreme ones, which is what Paul is doing? And why is it OK to mischaracterize what he does as a battle against all of religion? That's not how I read it.

Some people take unpopular stands. One reason more people don't do it is that they are harassed incessantly by the most intolerant and narrow-minded members of the community. An argument like the one above is as predictable as one kitten in a litter pawing at another. You probably dont' even see how predictable it is, how not-an-argument, but a reaction it is.

And you'll do anything to try to get him to stop, won't you? "It's your fault I'm not participating here any more," you complain as you respond to another of his posts. You know what topics he writes in. You can tell by their titles. Just put him on ignore or don't open those topics. But no, that's not enough for you, is it. He's still writing somewhere, and you can't tolerate that. This exchange says something about him, but also about you.

I realize it's usually futile getting through to people who are so prejudiced they can't even see that they are prejudiced. There was a time when Paul was going out of his way to post topics, aggressively promoting a point of view. But what he mainly does is respond. People tried shutting him up like this before. It didn't work then, and I doubt that it will work now. It's pretty obvious that he doesn't buy your assumptions, and whether you know it or not, you're making a lot of them. It might me a good idea for you to get used to it.

[Guest Paul]

Because many of the long-time posters on this board have been driven away, myself included, by how this site has become totally dominated by one subject and the tangent threads it has produced.

JW

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, Joe, but all you’re doing is describing your behavior. You’re not giving me a reason for it.

This isn’t about any inconvenience to you, or to anyone else. You’re not inconvenienced. You can still post here, exactly as you always did. Just put me, Bryan, et. al., on ignore and/or don’t open any topic that doesn’t interest you. That’s what I do. I’ve done it before in other discussion groups, and I do it at KOTW. I no longer read Bryan’s posts, and it’s no inconvenience to skip past them. It won’t take you more than a few seconds to eliminate the topics you don’t want and choose the topics you do want. Saying that we’ve driven you away from KOTW because of the volume and subject matter of our posts is not credible. On the contrary, it strongly suggests that this is about something else.

I can’t help feeling that this is about a certain way of doing things here in town. For many years, it was just assumed that the nativity scene, standing alone in front of town hall, was OK. No doubt there were people who knew it was wrong, but for years no one objected. It was just what Kearny does. For years no one corrected David Paszkiewicz, who was widely known to be preaching in class. That was just how Kearny does it. If you don't like this topic dominating local discussions, then I suggest you find a way to address the matter, but you're not going to do it by going back to the old ways of doing things.

This isn’t how Kearny does it any more. Kearny is a city in the United States of America, and as such is subject to the US Constitution. It’s not OK to do things in a particularly parochial way in violation of our Constitution. It troubles me that someone like yourself who is now a public official would apparently not see this.

OK, so my horrid son and I have upset your little apple cart. I get it. I got it when the administration refused to act in the face of a violation so blatant that it has made international news, their attorney told me that the recordings "weren't that bad," the board followed suit, the superintendent defended the teacher's behavior and nearly every one of Matthew’s classmates jumped on the bandwagon. I get it just fine. I also got it just fine when I asked you how you felt about these issues and you waffled me a half-answer.

Now I want you get to it. Kearny doesn’t have special license to ignore the law or the Constitution.

Also important, your brief post suggests an implicit assumption that we shouldn’t discuss important ideas and values in Kearny. Why not? I think that is exactly what a community should discuss. This isn't Pleasantville. If you haven't seen the film by that name, I suggest you watch it. It hits eerily close to home.

So with all due respect, your decision to stop posting here is not a reason for me to stop commenting on issues that I think are important. KOTW is a private forum, whose owners can make their own decisions.

What I would like you do, since you are now my elected representative, is to think about these things, and if you like, call me so we can discuss it. In fact, come on over and let’s have a beer. You will be welcome.

______________________________________________________________

I wrote the above note to Mr. Weber privately on Monday and told him that I did not wish to post it publicly without giving him an opportunity to respond. My preference was not to post it at all. When I did not hear from him, I sent him a private e-mail Wednesday evening. He responded with a terse e-mail accusing me of calling him a liar and insulting his intelligence. This is not the kind of behavior I expect from an elected official.

Paul LaClair

[Guest Guest]

Even though he is self-admittedly "deeply religious?" Interesting.

Christianity's not the only religion in the world, you know.

Registered users can put him on ignore if the want--the others can S**K it up. You're lucky to get the privilege to post at all; very few forums these days allow anonymous posting. You can't have it both ways. Either learn to use a scrollwheel or down arrow key or register and put whoever's posts you don't want to read on your ignore list.

Whining sure won't change anything in your favor, that's for sure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Will you please stop with the anonymous posting bit. The Strife 767 screen name is just as anonymous as posting as Guest.

[Guest Tom]

With all due respect, I would know the reason I was "driven away".

JW

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not necessarily. Sometimes we feel more strongly than we think. We can react to something that we dislike in our gut, and speak out against it without thinking it through. That seems to be exactly what has happened here. Do I have evidence of that? Yes I do. The people complaining about Paul and Bryan can't explain why they're complaining, or why they can't just skip past or ignore what they don't like. That's solid evidence that Paul is right: something else is going on, and it's coming from what people feel, not from what they think.

[Guest Tom]

No, people are driven away because of your constant battle against religion. It threads through to each of your topics and posts here.  People are tired of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then why do they keep responding to it? What about the people on the other side of the argument? Are they driving people away too? Or is it just the people you don't agree with who drive you away? Well not you, obviously, since you're posting.

So just what are you saying? Do you even know?

[Guest Tom]

There is little else here and it gets sandwiched between all this crap rhetoric about how, "I'm a more pompous ass than you, let me tell you about it.....".

Religion good - religion not good. God - no God. Chicken - egg. I got it, I got it ...... I ain't got it.

Enough is right.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe that's all you're seeing, but that's not all that's being said. How do I know? Because I see more. I read the posts and take time to think about them. There's more in them than just the above. There's a real discussion going on, for example, about whether the idea of eternal torment in hell makes any sense, is useful or damaging, etc. It gets sidetracked in silliness, like Bryan's morally perfect rocks, but there is a real discussion, real points of view, and they matter to people. It's up to you whether you want to consider or dismiss them, but you don't speak for others who find it interesting. Else why would we be here?

Whether someone is pompous or not has nothing to do with it, and anyway that could just be your way of saying that an argument is being made by someone you sense is smarter than you are, and you can't deal with it. So maybe you call a name and that helps you right your world. It's all in your head and in how you look at things.

[Guest Guest]

OK, Joe, but all you’re doing is describing your behavior. You’re not giving me a reason for it.

This isn’t about any inconvenience to you, or to anyone else. You’re not inconvenienced. You can still post here, exactly as you always did. Just put me, Bryan, et. al., on ignore and/or don’t open any topic that doesn’t interest you. That’s what I do. I’ve done it before in other discussion groups, and I do it at KOTW. I no longer read Bryan’s posts, and it’s no inconvenience to skip past them. It won’t take you more than a few seconds to eliminate the topics you don’t want and choose the topics you do want. Saying that we’ve driven you away from KOTW because of the volume and subject matter of our posts is not credible. On the contrary, it strongly suggests that this is about something else.

I can’t help feeling that this is about a certain way of doing things here in town. For many years, it was just assumed that the nativity scene, standing alone in front of town hall, was OK. No doubt there were people who knew it was wrong, but for years no one objected. It was just what Kearny does. For years no one corrected David Paszkiewicz, who was widely known to be preaching in class. That was just how Kearny does it. If you don't like this topic dominating local discussions, then I suggest you find a way to address the matter, but you're not going to do it by going back to the old ways of doing things.

This isn’t how Kearny does it any more. Kearny is a city in the United States of America, and as such is subject to the US Constitution. It’s not OK to do things in a particularly parochial way in violation of our Constitution. It troubles me that someone like yourself who is now a public official would apparently not see this.

OK, so my horrid son and I have upset your little apple cart. I get it. I got it when the administration refused to act in the face of a violation so blatant that it has made international news, their attorney told me that the recordings "weren't that bad," the board followed suit, the superintendent defended the teacher's behavior and nearly every one of Matthew’s classmates jumped on the bandwagon. I get it just fine. I also got it just fine when I asked you how you felt about these issues and you waffled me a half-answer.

Now I want you get to it. Kearny doesn’t have special license to ignore the law or the Constitution.

Also important, your brief post suggests an implicit assumption that we shouldn’t discuss important ideas and values in Kearny. Why not? I think that is exactly what a community should discuss. This isn't Pleasantville. If you haven't seen the film by that name, I suggest you watch it. It hits eerily close to home.

So with all due respect, your decision to stop posting here is not a reason for me to stop commenting on issues that I think are important. KOTW is a private forum, whose owners can make their own decisions.

What I would like you do, since you are now my elected representative, is to think about these things, and if you like, call me so we can discuss it. In fact, come on over and let’s have a beer. You will be welcome.

______________________________________________________________

I wrote the above note to Mr. Weber privately on Monday and told him that I did not wish to post it publicly without giving him an opportunity to respond. My preference was not to post it at all. When I did not hear from him, I sent him a private e-mail Wednesday evening. He responded with a terse e-mail accusing me of calling him a liar and insulting his intelligence. This is not the kind of behavior I expect from an elected official.

Paul LaClair

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Let Paul have his way. Let Mayor Santos, the guy Paul thinks is doing a great job, remove all religious displays from the grounds of Town Hall. Like Paul says, this is America. Three or four people should be able to tell the rest of the town of what, 45,000, what to do right?