I like Aimee's proposal of a trial period. It would make it much easier to pull the plug if things go wrong.

So I won't say I'm comfortable with the idea, but I've moved to "on the fence." Because the idea of a Buffista quasi-blog has appeal.

If a Politics thread passes, I'd suggest the header contain the following:

• This is a trial period to see if the board can handle a Politics thread without undue rancor. Include the date when the trial period ends.

• Post links, not entire articles. (Possible exception: Short, 1-2 paragraph excerpts ok if the link will expire soon after posting.)

• A reminder that we all have our political hobbyhorses. Respect that, at least to the extent of avoiding, "Not that issue again!" remarks.

Oh, and Cindy, love your tagline! Yay Meredith Brooks!

New server. Magazine ads. Plane tickets.

The new server we say we can't continue to afford? The magazine ads that I don't know what you're talking about, exactly? And bringing Nilly to the US?

Completely different things -- saying we have a lot of money is not just counting your chickens before they've hatched, you're not even to the bit where birds have evolved yet.

Right now, the money we have is whatever money Jesse has, and that's earmarked for hosting. The other money? Not yet existing, and I can't recommend any course of action that assumes it does.

The problem I have with a trial period is that we may revisit a contentious discussion in another three months.

[So far, I think I've counted two who say they will post in the thread]

Rob, I'm happy to work with you on developing the UI if that's a sticking point -- my email is mtepper at echonyc dot com.

Oh, and Cindy, love your tagline! Yay Meredith Brooks!

Thanks, Fred (oh, and you helped me catch a misspelling so thanks, twice). I think your suggestions for this thread, if it comes into being, are all sound and necessary.

The problem I have with a trial period is that we may revisit a contentious discussion in another three months.

That concerns me, too. Perhaps the proposal's wording could state there would be no re-opening of lightbulb. We're having the discussion now. The thread itself (I'm not convinced it will pass) will serve as proof to those who choose to vote. When the 3 months has passed, we could just have a straight up yea or nay vote. I don't know. Again, I would like to see something built into the proposal, an escape clause, so that if the thread causes some horrid problem, we can shut it down before the 3 month gut check, Aimee has proposed.

[So far, I think I've counted two who say they will post in the thread]

I think, for me, content and tone of the thread (if/when it comes into being), what's going on in the political arena, and in the press, and my own mood at the time, will have a lot to do with whether or when I post, or even lurk.

Does anyone else on the fence feel that way?

Does anyone else on the fence feel that way?

Pretty much. I don't know that I'd ever post in there very much, but there could be the occasional comment, depending on the factors you described.

Does anyone else on the fence feel that way?

My opinions are definitely evolving (or flip-flopping -- I'll own up to the possibility) since my first post last night.

There's a decent chance that I'd at least lurk, try it out. But I have a longstanding rule against discussing politics online (yes, I've broken it a number of times, and it isn't as firm as it used to be), especially during my peak posting hours. So I doubt I'd ever be a very active poster in such a thread. But if the thread tone is polite enough, I might say a few words now and then.

I'd probably post a few times.

I'm still very very on the fence, despite my rabid political feelings.

And, since I'm on the fence, I just want to thank everyone who's posted their yea/nay reasons so far, because they *are* helping me to formulate which side of the fence I want to vote on.

My general thinking is no -- and the reasons are two:

1) I've had wonderfully civil political discussions in Natter and other threads, and they only come up occasionally but are not stifled, and I do think they stay civil-er when they are in a social context.

2) I don't find politics interesting enough to have a whole thread dedicated to it. And it seems to me that not many others do either, since currently The O.C. gets more posts than political discussions do.

I will admit that on a couple of spectacular occasions, political discussions have gotten ugly (in 2002 once I posted something like "Okay, people, everybody needs to shut up and go away", and that was, how you say, atypical for me), but I don't think that a separate thread for politics would cause ugliness not to happen.

I suppose I'm persuadable, but it would take some serious persuasion. Chocolates and money to be sent to the usual address.