I'm confused

Well.....I did try and say that earlier but got flamed for doing so but I agree with you.
so to the rest of you lot who flamed me POLITICS ON POLITICS NG NOT ON HERE...!!!...& BOLLOCKS TO THOSE OF U WHO DON'T LIKE IT
Mark.

I couldn't agree more, but this newsgroup actually isn't nearly as bad as some others I frequent. Just fine tune your killfile and you should reduce the problem dramatically.

Another spineless loser for the killfile...bu-bye and enjoy the likes of hozer and vessticles.....PLONK!!!!!!!!
Mark Stevens wrote:

Sir....our hobby deals with subjects of a historical nature...and "politics" is a major aspect of those historical periods. For example, the frequent threads regarding the presence (or lack thereof) of swastikas in decal sheets...is a *political* topic! It is impossible to separate our hobby from politics. It is not like we are in the hobby of collecting chewing gum wrappers.

I have swastikas by the shed load here...how many do you want...??? I am waiting for local council bods to jump out and say I cannot drive my Panzer through their car parks...it has a swastika on on the flag on one it's aerials. It's called History and real-life ...it happened so get the f*ck and get real...!!!

That doesn't explain the bazillion threads about the US presidential election, Arafat's death, etc. ad nauseam, none of which have anything to do with modelling whatsoever. They're just flamefests.

Hello Mike. This issue has been covered numerous times here on RMS. This is a newsgroup about scale models. However, it's also a newsgroup for scale modelers. It might help if you think of it as a virtual hobby shop. In a hobby shop, there are plenty of model kits to look at and talk about. However, you can also find clusters of modelers gathered around involved in discussion. Ofter that discussion is model related. however, other times it is not and could be about other subjects that interest modelers; such as current events and politics.
If you are in a a hobby shop and you walk up on a discussion that doesn't interest you, you just don't participate and you walk away. It's the same here. You can't stop people from talking about things that interest them, even non-model related subjects. If you come across a thread that doesn't interest you, simply "walk away" by not opening and reading it. It's not hard. Many posters include the letters "OT" in the subject line of off-topic posts to warn readers. Other off topic posts can be determined to be so just by the subject line itself, such as the currently popular one "Arafat dies...."
In this environment of free speech, the onus is on you to read or not read what you want. Most newsgroup readers have the capability to block threadw with a particular subject line and you can do that. In that way, if you can't trust yourself not to open threads you don't want to read, you can block them so you won't even see them and the temptation won't be there. You can also block particular posters whose ideas and subject matter you may not like.
It's quite a simple concept, really. Give it a try.
-- -- -- -- -- "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell
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Well, Mark, as I just mentioned in a post to Mike, RMS is like a virtual hobby shop. In an actual hobby shop you will find groups of modelers gathered to discuss modeling related issues. You will also find them discussing other, non-modeling related issues that interest them. It's the same here on RMS. That's just the way it is in a free speech environment.
As I mentioned to Mike, most of the time you can clearly identify a particular topic as off the topic of modeling related issues by the subject line. The onus is on you, the reader, to have the self-control not to open and read topics that you don't want to read. If you can't trust yourself not to open such posts, block the subkect line or the particular poster or posters that seem to annoy you. It ain't rocket science.
-- -- -- -- -- "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell
My Home Page:

You sound like an unpleasant man. I think I will exercise my right to freedom of association and block you now. G'day, mate.
-- -- -- -- -- "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell
My Home Page:

Harro: Yes it does. I've discussed the issue of off-topic posts in two posts I just made and I believe I may have discussed this with you in direct response to an earlier comment you made (but perhaps not).
At any rate, look back to my posts to Mike Maze and Mark Stevens. I really don't want to have to go over this yet a third time today.
-- -- -- -- -- "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell
My Home Page:

Okay, you've piqued my interest. What kind of a panzer do you have? tia,
The Keeper (of too much crap!)

"Bill Woodier" wrote
Or a newspaper or magazine. It is the rare person who reads every single ad and article in either. Whatever mechanism allows the reader to handle paper media would also work here.
Also, examine the motivation for being upset about non-modeling stuff. Remember that a) It's free, b) The presence of OT does not mean an equivalent amount of good modeling info was displaced, and c) It's free. One can legitimately say that the OT stuff impedes finding the modeling stuff. However, is it _really_ that hard to pick the wheat from the chaff by scanning the headers?
I've found that when people have real modeling questions the questions get answered. More aggravating to me than OT glop is when somebody asks "Does the Tamiya F4F Wildcat have weighted tires?" and people answer "I always liked the Corsair better", "I never use weighted tires", "The Hasegawa kit has them.", "I built the Monogram Wildcat as a kid", and "I wish Tamiya had made a F4F-1 rather than an F4F-3"; and all their response end with: "Sorry, can't help you with the tires."
KL

Very well said! I only wish the OT complainers were the type to actually understand your point.

1/10th Scale Panzer V AUSF G.... Twin electric motors and full R/C.
And in reply to Bill Woodier......I am a pleasant chap really...it just gets my goat with the PC Brigade trying to shut things out as if they never really existed, they'll be banning Rememberance Parades next because it glorifies war or some other stupid reason. They seem to forget people actually fought and died for our freedom....and that should never be forgotten.
Regards.........Mark

I wish they had built the -3 instead of the -4. Guess I gotta buy the conversion... 8^)
The Keeper (of too much crap!)

I don't open them and I don't read them.It's just getting to be a pain in the butt wading through them to get to something interesting. Since I'm a car modeler,I don't find a lot interesting anyway.But I respect the right of anyone to model what they want. Any kind of modeling can provide tips for other kinds of modeling.I don't care at all about Arafat dying,or who Bush is killing this week.I'm just looking for modeling tips and stories,reviews,and the like. My brain is like lightning......One big flash and it's gone

Why should you be the one to decide we can't? My brain is like lightning......One big flash and it's gone

Yeah, if this were a real hobby shop we'd be throwing X-acto knives at each other. Kim m :+)

Nah...we'd behave more like adults.People are a lot more brave when they aren't in your face.