So, I voted way back when the poll was first created... Now, you guys go and present good arguments on
both sides!
Without tipping my hand, I see "off-topic" and "rants" (poltical or otherwise) as two very different things. When I see a thread started with the words off-topic (or is that one word?), I generally click eagerly to see what one of my Pagoda-loving cohorts is up to. A new "other car?", another interesting website? an announcement of junior on the way? The person obviously wants to share something, and who better than his adopted Pagoda family to lend an ear?...
Then there is the "rant." It can start innocently enough but once it begins and takes a turn toward polemic -- what a downer. Like a few here have said -- we get enough of this in our daily lives, why contaminate the air here? Part of me hopes a moderator slams the lid (another small sick part likes watching when the gloves come off...) But in the end, this is not the place for it. Period.
In some ways, its like the proverbial "Sunday night family dinner." Everyone shows up for the home cooking, the entertainment, and to catch up on things. But one should try and keep the politics and religion to a minumum, lest Uncle Louie flies off the handle. Do we create a second "family dinner" so Louie can go off about things -- or do we just show a little discretion and keep the peace? (and have Peter throw Uncle Louie outside
)
Poll