in article 40ca2aa5$0$1005$44c9b20d@news3.asahi-net.or.jp, Shannon Jacobs at
shanen@my-deja.com wrote on 6/12/04 6:56 AM:

> Hmm... When I posted a comment about Japanese libraries on May 30th, I
> certainly had no idea I'd be looking back in less than a fortnight and
> seeing such an unpleasant mess. My records suggest that my entire
> contribution consisted of 14 comments, with the last one on the 6th. Eleven
> of my posts were in the main 'libraries with attitude' thread, and most of
> those were actually focused on the topic of Japanese libraries. Google says
> the associated threads involve at least 88 posts, of which 26 are under my
> name.
> 
> I don't know how much of the mess I've actually read, but apart from my
> comments, there were only a few that were actually related to the topic of
> Japanese libraries. I tried to reply thoughtfully to the library-related
> ones I spotted, though I was too busy to visit for a while and probably
> missed some. There was a small amount of useful new information about
> Japanese libraries there. I'd say thanks, except that most of it was blended
> with more unprovoked rudeness.
> 
> "As ye sow, so shall ye reap," but I had no idea I was planting a whirlwind
> seed. It obviously fell on fertile soil, however.
> 
> According to Google, two of the other most active discussions during this
> period involved an obvious troll thread about 'effeminate Japanese' and
> something about Emperor Reagan's funeral.
> 
> As usual, when I see a mess, I bounce to the meta-explanation.
> Unfortunately, the meta-explanation appears to be something like "the right
> to free speech gets abused." However, the complete explanation is somewhat
> complicated and philosophic, and such discussions do seem rather irrelevant
> here. I'll continue to consider the matter, but it seems rather (typically)
> unrelated to the newsgroup fj.life.in-japan. I also like to look for
> solutions, but that's more of a job for Googleman.

The more you post, the least impressed I become. You post a tirade about how
the Japanese library system is somehow stupid for preferring Japanese
translations to the originals in English, completely ignoring the fact that
the vast majority of the readers in a Japanese library are more fluent in
Japanese than in English. Then, when you don't get the praise for your
tirade, you explain it as "the right to free speech gets abused"?

Are you really so self-centered as to believe that your thoughts are the
only valid thoughts and that any disagreement is an abuse of free speech?

True, I respect you more than I do SuperOutland and Kaz, but that really
isn't saying much.