Reid Goldsborough wrote:
On 2/20/2010 9:38 AM, mazorj wrote:

Let the flaming and numismatic nitpicking begin.

You guessed it. g It already has, led by Bruce Remick. He and the
others who post here most regularly, who live here, account for the
nature of this group, which has always been the case. Usenet is a
lowest-common-denominator phenomenon, with the loudest and most
frequent posters controlling things, bringing things down to their
level. Usenet has the lowest signal-to-noise ratio of any Internet
communications medium.

Yep, we're just a nest of vipers, lurking for the next victim who dares test
the waters with his big toe. Kind of like one Mr. Goldsborough occasionally
does, as he so aptly demonstrated some months ago when I, in my naiveté,
dared to make an on-topic post about a numismatic publication. Medice, cura
te ipsum.

My post generated, immediately, four responses that have zero content
dealing with the subject matter of the group, which my post dealt
with, or anything related to the content in my post, with your response
accurately predicting this. Another example: The most popular thread
here in recent weeks, by a huge amount, has been about the weather,
with 186 messages in the "Snowy RCC?" thread. On target content-full
posts about numismatics, typically, get 2 to 5 responses, with
exceptions. Posts about the weather and politics get 186 and 79 responses.
No
wonder Usenet in general and this group in particular have been in
such decline, that so many people have left, and that one ISP after
another
has discontinued their Usenet feeds to subscribers.

Well, search back through the archives and check posting history, and you
will find that OPs about coins attract extremely little traffic. Those of
us who sit around with nothing else to do but cry alone by our keyboards
have to then default to talking about the weather, politics, or religion.
The fact that you have counted 186 posts that you consider off-topic in the
Snowy RCC thread betrays your own secret interest in such things and have
actually read each and every one of them to present as evidence for your
proposition. BTW, I note that you haven't deigned to take part in any of
the recent coin discussions, for example, the very recent one about the
slabbed Ugly Head on eBay. Why is that?

What to make of this? I think it's a telling commentary about human
nature, about how, too often, things don't go optimally when people
are entirely left to their own devices. Lord of the Flies. Usenet has
and always has had FAQs and other attempts at guidance. But people
ignore them. Other Internet communications technologies do a better
job of reigning in.

For the record, that should be "reining in." Oops, wrong group. Let's see,
that would be alt.english.usage. My bad. But try doing that over there and
see how long you survive. Those guys will tear you one over a misplaced
quotation mark or improper use of the pluperfect subjunctive. Welcome to
Usenet.

This short analysis, naturally, will just lead to more of what you
previously predicted, flaming and nitpicking, with one utterly
predictable response being that I'm whining and another utterly
predictable one being, don't let the door hit your derriere on the way
out.You know, creative stuff. g Somebody thinking they're being
terribly clever will no doubt just ape these very words. If one person
leaves a substantive response, dealing with the subject matter that I
just addressed, I believe I just might fall off my chair. If one
person discusses anything related to numismatics as a result of my
opening post in this thread, I believe I just may have a coronary. Or
not.

You say you want to talk coins, so let's talk coins, and I'll take a cue
from your essay. I hope you are able to take advantage of the best health
system in the world, though, because here comes Heart Attack City.

Let's talk "Colonial" coppers for a moment, specifically those that were
unauthorized by whatever authorizing party was authorized to authorize them.
To keep this simple, let's limit the discussion to Maris 54-k, the "Serpent
Head" New Jersey copper, the obverse having been inspired by the legitimate
Maris number 46 die, and struck over lighterweight, already-manufactured
coins, but still circulated at the then-current and higher rate of exchange
for Jersey coppers. Is it a counterfeit? You betcha! Is it collectible?
You betcha! It's a Redbook variety, for crying out loud, and there is no
mention there of its dubious origin. I daresay that people who collect
these things couldn't care less that their treasure represents the Devil's
handiwork.

Oh heck, while I'm at it, why not broach the subject of Machin's Mills,
which was responsible for all sorts of bogo products in the 1780s, whether
counterfeit British ha'pennies, Vermont mules, or Connecticut monstrosities
disguised as legitimate coins? Thanks in part to Thomas Machin's
ministrations, a copper panic was precipitated, which cast a pall over
almost all the circulating coppers at the end of the 1780s and early 1790s.

How many subsequent on-topic rejoinder posts shall I now expect? Ten?
Five? Two? Oh, all right, just one will be fine. Lay on, RCC.

James