leonardcohenforum.com

I'm happy to disclose the name/location of this forum on a private message basis - Paula, I have emailed you accordingly.

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

Andrew I never got your email. Please send it again. Ta very much

there is no Gaeltacht in N. Ireland only in Donegal (the closest).
Suzanne i do not speak Irish but i do the universal language.
best wishes and welcome to the board............Georges

Thanks, Georges, for answering my curious questions!
And thank you for your nice welcome!

-Susanne

Darby, i was not aware that the name and address of the Newsgroup were a secret affair. What i find most interesting is the person with the worst record of using invective (and generally vicious and foul language) on there over the years is currently being lauded on another thread round here. Not only that but is STILL getting webspace on the main site linked to this forum. I wonder if anyone would be so thoughtless as to invite this person to the NY event?

p.

Partisan, perhaps you're right - I was just being cautious, not wishing to identify it as such. I'm sure there are also other forums that are just as notorious, so I suppose I didn't want to necessarily highlight it above the rest. The main point was to contrast such forums with this one.

It is interesting to hear you make reference to someone (who apparently has such a negative reputation) being active in this forum and the associated website. I guess it just goes to show that one can never ultimately control or outlaw such behaviour in a forum that is underpinned by "freedom of speech/expression" - we can merely try to set a high standard that speaks for itself. So, I think the culture of a forum like this can still aim to promote the set of values that includes courteousness, respect, tolerance, acceptance, goodwill, peace etc.

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

Dear Andrew, of the "Darby" variety,
I've read the recent posts from you and "partisan" on this thread, and am disturbed by them. Don't get me wrong: neither you nor partisan are the cause; I have learned much from both of you since I joined the L.C. forum last July,but references to "vicious and foul language" "over the years", saddened me, and confused me too! I know nothing of the "Newsgroup", and even less of the individual(s) to whom you refer but do not name.
I, like all the correspondents on this board, would like the 2004 event in New York to be a great success. It seems that may not be the case.
Andrew, I'm completely in the dark on this issue, yet encouraged by your comments about the message board.
Yours,
Andrew, of the "McGeever" variety.

Dear Andrews of whatever variety you may be, dear partisan...

I'm not familiar with the newsgroup either, nor do I know which old debts some try to settle here. And I don't know, if I even want to care...

Only thing I know is, I don't want anybody to destroy this here forum by carrying over wars from other territories.

And, partisan, though your name is close to guerilla, your tactics shouldn't be. This is a free speech forum, I think, and criticism should be directed to the person you criticize.

It's simply not fair to allege persons indirectly and to stab from behind. Either you should confront the person, or you should quietly ignore it.

Tom

Darby, the person i was refering to does not post on here as far as i know. They have not posted on the newsgroup for a long time either, or so i believe. However previous form dictates regular fresh starts, usually descending in a short time to the usual invective and paranoia, and then of course to alienating the newsgroup once again. I agree that it is nice not to have any of that here. I am sure too that NY will be as wonderful as Hydra. That is of course assuming that no one insists on reading that piece about how to read poetry AGAIN. You would never think of doing it i know Andrew

p.

partisan

You're right - I think I've given that one a good run at the events last year!

(I'm not sure at this stage that I can be part of the NY event anyway.)

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

To all who do and don't know who Partisan is referring to in his posts here. I do know, and Partisan and I have, elsewhere, expressed our disagreements regarding that person. I have met the person and had only positive exchanges, and I like them very much. I have also witnessed that person in the newsgroup, wherein I saw no negativity forthcoming from them. I have also witnessed negativity in the newsgroup when that person was nowhere around. I have also met others who feel as I do regarding same.

As tends to always be the case in my experience, it's better to base your opinion and exchanges with another person on their own merits, given your own interactions with them. There are many triangular acquaintance and friendship structures, where not all three feel the same about one another. I find that when I'm forewarned negatively about another person, I tend to go in with even greater openness than I might have otherwise, looking for the positive that the other person missed.

In addition to any of that, we never know what is going on in another person's life, at any given moment, unless we not only know them personally, but have gained their trust. When you have no idea where their shoes are, it's pretty tough to walk a mile in them before you judge. Stress alone can make for a pretty thin veneer, that once scratched, can reveal a whole lot of hurt and anger [often synonymous] that can come out in a whole lot of different, unexpected ways. To judge anyone's "being" based on interactions on a Forum or any other Internet venue is lacking a whole lot of dimension [literally and otherwise].

To anyone who's already commented here regarding the "unknown one," I'm confident that I'm preaching to the choir.

~ Elizabeth

Does anyone really care why people come and go here?

You make a good point, Tori. There are definitely more important things to consider in people's lives.

Lizzytysh et al

I for one am intrigued - just who is this person who excites such emotion? And where is this newsgroup?

The only person who could get people so wound up on an LC site would have to be Marianne, Isaac, Queen Victoria or Suzanne (in the song not nescessarily a poster)

JTS

Hi John ~

I want to give you the respect of answering your post, but without answering your question. If someone else wants to come forth with blatant answers, that's fine. However, I feel it's preferable in case you should chance encounter, that you do so with a totally open mind, untainted by others' poison. I was advised that, "You will alienate many people with such a staunch defence," and, of course, that will not alter my behaviour whatsoever. If I do, I do. Having encountered someone positively, I will defend my own experiencing and perception of that person. I have no idea what convolutions have resulted in the opinions of [apparently] some others, but I do know that they are theirs and not mine, and I do know what has resulted in mine. It's not up to me to try to figure the why's and wherefore's of their experiences. However, I won't remain silent as to what mine have been, regardless of what others may think.

Should I alienate some with my own loyalties, then perhaps alienated is where they need to be in regard to me, though of course, I'd prefer it to be otherwise. "You can please some of the people, some of the time, and you can please............, but you can't please.......[etc.]" That's the nature of life, friendship, and love. I don't even know who these others are, so apparently, they're not large enough in my life to know me, and if they did, they'd understand. If I were here to win a popularity contest, I'd be somewhere near the bottom of the score sheet, anyway , so that would never fly as a motive, for relenting on my staunch defense, even if loyalty weren't an issue.

Ah well......

~ Lizzytysh