moderator's note

Mark said it all in his second post regarding the purpose of this web site - "civil, informative discourse".  My heartfelt thanks to Mark, Charles and any other moderators for using their common sense and good judgement to keep the discourse at that level. <br><br>This is the only website I visit regularly.  I do so because, besides being crazy about skiing, I really appreciate the civility and graciousness of its posters.  (I've been wanting to say this for a long time.)  There is just too much nastiness, condescension, and downright rudeness on many other sites for me to bother with them.  Posters say things to each other on these sites they would never say in person.<br><br>I'd noticed with dismay this nasty tone creeping into the recent commentary of a couple of posters.   With relief, I noticed they've toned it down.  This may be old fashioned, but I think you can get a lot farther expressing opinions with courtesy and respect.<br><br>There, I've got that off my chest.  Thanks again to the moderators and thanks to all of you for your "self-moderation".  We have something remarkable here and unfortunately too rare.<br><br>   <br>        

I would suggest no political commentary, and avoidance of attacking other groups as a standard on TAY.<br> <br>However, my suspicions were confirmed, the standard of communication has been demonstrated. <br> <br>It was not my original intent to talk politics and argue on TAY. I was provoked secondarily since certain folks using certain phrases are allowed to confront, attack, and/ or pose political commentary. It wears on one when all that is desired is to read and talk skiing, and there is this undertone of a certain political view and cronyism.

It was not my original intent to talk politics and argue on TAY. I was provoked secondarily since certain folks using certain phrases are allowed to confront, attack, and/ or pose political commentary.

<br>FWIW, I also came here just for the skiing discussion, but your response to said "certain folks" lured me in with some excellent bait. And so the cycle continues...<br><br>There's obviously a fuzzy line between skiing and development and politics, or skiing and climate and politics (among other fuzzy lines). I expect the line will be crossed again, and it will once again be up to the moderators to determine if the line is fuzzy or sharp. I enjoy the debate when it sticks to some reasonable rules of respectful discourse, as it helps me think through some tough issues (many of you pose excellent points and questions, Randonnee among them). Though I'm sure I fail at times, I try to stick to the rule of debating the concepts, not the character, intelligence, or other personality qualities of the people espousing them (including avoiding stereotyping, name-calling, or other sweeping-but-unproven assumptions about the people behind the posts, as in "all Ballard TAY residents drive Lexus SUVs and are wild left-of-center Republican hypocrites" or "so and so is a paranoid lunatic" or "you are obviously not thinking but just following your herd on this").<br><br>I think you have to let the folks who engage in such unsavory tactics roll off your back, though I can appreciate that you feel outnumbered a bit here, Randonee, so that may be a little too easy for me to say.

I have been following this discussion with some interest. I support the position taken by the Moderator since I, like most others here, prefer the civil exchange of ideas and information that is usually found on TAY. I have political opinions that I would not hesitate to express among other skiers, but this is not the forum for them.<br><br> I think that it could be argued conclusively that conservative, right-of-center governments in the U.S.A., Canada and Europe have historically not been sympathetic to environmental issues. It is also true that liberal, left-of-center parties such as the Green Party in Europe and the New Democratic Party in Canada have attempted to address the concerns of outdoor oriented people within the limits of political systems. This is not to say that a Republican in Washington State or a Conservative in Alberta can't have strong environmental ethics. Most of us have formed our political platforms on more than which party funded more of our environmental and outdoor recreational concerns.<br><br> Many of my outdoors-loving friends, especially those from proactive groups such as the Seattle Mountaineers and the Sierra Club, have left leaning political views (maybe because a lot of them do live in the Puget Sound area).It doesn't surprise me that a similiar flavour exists on TAY.<br><br> In 1974 I graduated from the most "radical", "liberal" university in Canada (S.F.U.) and met a Texan navy officer stationed on the Kitsap Peninula who became my best friend. All in the Family was the most popular show on T.V., but I had never encountered any one like my new American pal. For over 30 years we have played out our own episodes of "All in the Family" and you can guess who has the role of Meathead. We have cajoled, criticized, demonized, mocked and laughed at each other's beliefs. However, neither of us would consider putting our viewpoints down in print on a public stage that was not established for that purpose. Besides, our mutual love and respect for the great outdoors and our adventures therein will always rise above our polarized political stands.That and the fact that we both offer well-informed statements has allowed us to accept each other's views. Unfortunately, even humourous political jabs on TAY have the potential to offend and alienate other snow sliding enthusiasts. Even though I know that it would be futile, I would probably try to convince Randonnee to see the light if I was skiing with him, but I will never diss him or others on TAY for their politics.<br><br>Bob Wiebe

Well said, Telemon.

I have added some posting guidelines to the "post a message" page. These guidelines will be displayed every time a person goes to make a post, and include both general and photo posting guidelines. Hopefully these guidelines will help posters understand what is desired and expected from them on this forum, and will help us retain the civil atmosphere which we all appreciate.<br><br>When I have some time, I will create a thread which will elaborate on these guidelines and which then can be easily referenced when necessary. If you have suggestions for this thread, please post them here.