Posted by Jost on October 31, 2006, at 11:05:37
In reply to Re: what's right vs what's wrong, posted by Jost on October 31, 2006, at 10:50:10
Well, I dont' know if we're doing this ex post facto, but according to my calculations (and I"m no mathematician), Alex's block could be shortened as follows.
last block: 4 weeks
time since block 18
uncivil toward group or individual: yes
if you divide 10 into 18, you get 1.8. Rounding up, you get 2. 4-2=2. 2 x 3 = 6.That's six weeks. (I'm a bit rushed but that seems right. You can imagine me on the LSATs-- yeah I was the last one there.....)
Still too long, but a little better.
Let me add, although I don't expect it's a distinction that makes a difference-- Alex was presenting the views of Kendall-Smith., not her own. ie Kendall-Smith's argument was xxx-- xxx being uncivil. Throughout the discussion, she wasn't giving her own opinion-- arguably-- but presenting his (or the inferences she thought one could draw from his, that could be used to further explain it)-- not her own.
So Alex wasn't saying xxx-- she was presenting the worldview of many people, personified by Kendall-Smith, outside the US about what the US is doing is Iraq.
Since factuality doesn't cut against incivility, presumably neither does authorship. I'd like to make that distinction-- so that it's clear that she was more or less taking a debating position, rather than making personal statements. A small point perhaps but one worth noting. For the record.
So is there any way that her block could be shortened at least to six weeks, administratively?
Jost
poster:Jost
thread:698908
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20061018/msgs/699290.html