Like most people in FT, I am not on the Talk Board, and I don't have access to the Talk Board only Board (boy, how's that for an awkward phrase?). So, my comments are based on what was posted here, which authenticity and accuracy I have no way of verifying.

I accept that the excerpts kokonutz posted are out of context and therefore open to misinterpretation and spin-doctoring. I also accept that Talk Board discussions may have to be held in camera; that is, as closed meetings, especially when you are discussing individuals. I accept that because of this, the Talk Board may never be able to provide all the information, since the only way to guarantee 100% of the context is to breach privacy. And I accept that somebody appears to breached an agreement to keep some things in closed session.

Nevertheless, valid issues are raised by this thread:

1. Are people's non-FT lives being discussed at all at the Talk Board? If so, has anybody demonstrated that how people behave in in-person social situations, decisions regarding alcohol, age, or occupation (excepting possibly working in the travel industry) is relevant to a discussion about their participation - at any level - in FT? I sincerely hope that if the first quoted post by cigarman was in fact posted, the first follow up said "Why are you mentioning this?"

2. Is anybody on the Talk Board actually voicing an us against them opinion regarding any of the members they were elected to represent? Having served in an elected capacity in various volunteer organizations, I fully understand that individuals can be annoying, but elected officials are supposed to work in the best interests of their constituency, or of the entire body. This may include sometimes setting aside the wishes of the majority in favour of the needs of the majority, and it may mean that the Board may divide based on individual perceptions of those needs, but it should never set the Board above that body. Making references to "good" and "evil" in this context is not helpful.

3. The genie is out of the bottle. I wish none of this had ever seen the light of day, and I hope that we are mistaken and that none of this ever happened within the Talk Board, either, but hfly's post indicates that kokonutz hasn't made anything up, and we all now labour under the suspicion that the Talk Board may have been discussing our personal lives during official business.

I therefore respectfully request that the Talk Board provide an explanation of why these discussions occurred and were apparently permitted to continue (judging from what hfly provided), without naming the individuals who were the topic of discussion. I also request that the Talk Board contact each person whose personal lives were discussed and provide them with an unedited copy of the part of the thread that discussed them. Furthermore, I request that those members of the TalkBoard who made such comments apologize in general to FT, and in private to each individual whose privacy was invaded. Finally, to protect individuals' privacy from further invasion, I ask that both kokonutz and hfly immediately edit their posts to remove the names of the people who were being discussed in the quotes (kokonutz may, of course, choose to leave his own name in if he so choosed), and that after my earlier questions and requests have been addressed to the general satisfaction of the members concerned, the Talk Board threads themselves be deleted, so that nobody else will ever see them.

islandcub