No More Opinions

I will no longer be commenting on social or economic issues. Ann Colter is correct in her book. I will say nothing else. <br><br>I will continue to give ski reports. I hope the TAY members enjoy them.

Any trip reports that you provide will be enjoyed, I'm sure. More information is always good. If you can't share your opinions on this forum without insulting anyone who's got a contrary view, that's unfortunate. I think your viewpoint could generate some good, thoughtful discussion, if you'd let the hippy-pollywog angle go...<br><br>Anyway, keep the TRs coming. I'm not trying to fan the flames, by any means.

I don't wish to insult anyone. My opinions may just do that, therefore I will cease.<br><br>Ironically, many of you would probably enjoy skiing with me. I'm one of the nicest people out there, but maybe just too opinionated. <br><br>I'll keep my skiing and commentary separate.

I'll ski with ya, Bandit.

Me too. Writing can be a funny communication medium.

I missed what every blewup in the other thread, but I say keep the opinions coming as long as you're acting within reason and within the forum guidelines. If controversial issues are going to be discussed I hope multiple viewpoints are presented and that this forum doesn't turn into preaching to the boy's choir.

No insults taken here!!

If Ann Colter is your paragon of truth then I'm sure this will be a better place if you keep your mouth shut

I personally value folks who question my thinking with alternate viewpoints. Randonee is a good example of someone who clearly has different takes than me on some policy issues, but while I may disagree with him on some topics, I've generally appreciated his challenging discussion on topics like global warming, inlcuding his raising the question of whether some of his "opponents" might be hypocritical in some of their energy consumption choices. I never felt that he was insulting me as a person for having a different view, nor that he was making any big leaps about me based on what little I'd written. I have little idea where I agree or disagree with Wolfs, but he also does a great job of questioning others in a respectful fashion on this forum, and again, I value his challenging posts.<br><br>I think the trick is questioning the ideas, and not the people. It's a fuzzy line, but of course it's possible to be way on one side or the other of the line (name calling or putting people down for their thinking is clearly on one side, for example). Another trick is to keep open to the alternate viewpoints even while you're presenting your own - question out of curiosity and not just to cross-examine. For anyone who wants to brush up, there's a great book titled Difficult Conversations written by folks who have dealt with everything from marital disputes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and they did a fantastic job of boiling down discussion dynamics to a concise little book. Everyone I've recommended it to has thanked me after reading it, from a father who finally figured out how to avoid locking horns with his daughter to folks dealing with nasty work situations. I need to re-read the book, as it's tough to master its content in one reading, and I think this is a place where most of us can improve throughout our lives.

For anyone who wants to brush up, there's a great book titled Difficult Conversations written by folks who have dealt with everything from marital disputes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and they did a fantastic job of boiling down discussion dynamics to a concise little book.

<br><br>This is what I love about the net! Thanks for this book recommendation, Jim. I haven't heard of it before. I'll give it a look. I've read Getting to Yes, which apparently was a predecessor to this book, and I thought it was quite good.<br>

Just remember..."Opinions are like buttholes, Everybody has one".<br><br>Aaron

Communication between individuals is probably one of the most difficult things that we will encounter in our lives. It's great that we all have unique personalities and different opinions; it would be a very boring world if we didn't. Even though the internet is a great place for all of us to communicate, it's also equally hard sometimes to not misinterpret what is written. The fact that you are not able to view a person's facial expression, hear their voice, or experience the pregnanted pauses in the thought process adds to the difficulity. I, myself find communicating with family, friends, and business associates a never ending source of education and pleasure. Thanks Jim and Lowell for the suggestions on reading material, it's always nice to learn a couple of new tools that will help in some of lifes challenges .

Bandit,<br><br>I think that you ought to write your opinions, they are valid. <br><br>But I will tell you that the only reason that I entered the thread regarding the Alpental Gondola was because of all the posters, your posts were the only ones that seemed to make personal comments either regarding a class of people "radical left", which I do not have a problem with, or seemed to make personal "hits" on other posters, which is what motivated me, especially since no other poster actually objected to the project for political or environmental reasons.<br><br>It would appear from your posts that to you, anyone who would even consider exercising their right to comment on the use of their public land is a radical leftist. I would argue that even involved citizens who should be considered centrist or even right of center might consider this a democratic and civic duty and should not be labeled, which can be insulting.<br><br>Just curious, do you publicly label yourself a radical rightist? Or do you see yourself as centrist mainstream?<br><br>I think that the goal of public comment is that the whole spectrum participates and the extremes get winnowed out as such.<br><br>I hope you don't think that voting is a bad idea and that this country would be better off if the groups you disagree with get disenfranchised. My bet is that you don't, but I do know people on both sides of the fence that wish the opposition would go away. It is natural for those on one team to wish the competition to lay down or go away, but the very best competitors relish winning a battle well fought. It gives them even more credibility in the end.<br><br>Alan

No comment.

Knowing what we know about this administrations environmental attitudes, I would say that being a rightist and a skier is akin to being a hunter and a deer. Unless of course you are in the top 2% of the income bracket, then your extensive tax cuts more than make up for the destruction of our natural world.

Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.

Ok... here is my brain fart...<br><br>Opinions are useful when trying to achieve consensus decision making. We can let "the leader" make all decisions or we can share our opinions and work out a consensus decision.<br><br>I think it would be ok to give opinions if one were willing to listen and respect the opinions of others. We lose it when it becomes a contest.<br><br>Women seem to be naturally better at this then the guys. Hmmm...<br><br>EOBF.

Jim, Thank you for posting that article. That was very interesting.