Python library "support" propaganda lists?

[Robert Kern]

On 2009-10-30 14:37 PM, Aaron Watters wrote:
> On Oct 30, 12:51 pm, Robert Kern<robert.k... at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> On 2009-10-30 11:31 AM, Aaron Watters wrote:
>>
>>> I know this may be due to simple laziness and negligence,
>>> but in that case they should turn moderation off.
>>
>> That's the funny thing about mailing list problems. If a misconfiguration means
>> people can't post to your, you don't hear from the people having problems. Try
>> emailing one of the project leaders directly (and politely!) to ask them to
>> check their moderation queue for your post. And check Spamhaus to see if your
>> mail host is on their list!
>>
>>> I don't want to say where I've had this problem,
>>> because I don't want to offend anyone in particular
>>> -- I'm just making a general observation.
>>
>> No, you're not. You're making unsupported accusations of malfeasance.
>
> I don't mean to accuse anyone of anything.

Attaching a question mark to the end doesn't make it any less of an accusation. 
Language is funny that way. C.f. the "Cavuto mark".

> I just want to note that any manipulation of
> list content, *if* it ever occurs, is not
> acceptable (aside from spam filtering).

You need to have at least some evidence that it is occurring at all before 
moralizing about the hypothetical. When you do either of these things, it gives 
the rhetorical impression that you do have some support to believe that these 
things are actually happening when, in fact, you don't.

> Of course I can never prove anything along
> these lines and any naming will only result
> in creating life long enemies, and no benefit
> to me of any kind.

You know, if you hadn't leapt to paranoid conclusions in the first place, you 
could have named the lists that you were having problems with right here, and 
probably other people would be able to help you. No acrimony. No enemies. All 
benefit. This is why it is both irresponsible and entirely unhelpful to 
pontificate about malfeasance before collecting sufficient evidence.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco