kudzurunner
2661 posts
Aug 24, 2011
7:27 AM
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Friends:
As some, or perhaps many, of you are aware, our friend and forum member, Jason Ricci, has recently fallen on hard times. It is possible to find an article in an Indiana newspaper describing those troubles, which include several arrests and some time in a local jail.
One of our members recently posted that link, and the thread in which it was posted became an unpleasant place, in part because another member--now a former member--repeatedly goaded one of our administrators, ignoring his quite reasonable requests to tone it down. (That former forum member, after his banishment, saw fit to spew filth at said administrator--enough filth to make clear the rightness of his banishment.)
Jason, I'll repeat, is a member of this forum. If you take a look at the creed, you'll find the following:
"We come here to share information, conspire with like-minded others, educate ourselves, cheer each other on, and maybe help each other deal skillfully with the rough changes that the blues-focused life can sometimes put us through. Vigorous, passionate conversation is fine. But please refrain from flaming, insulting, or otherwise impugning the intelligence or good intentions of your fellow board members, or from starting threads that seek to encourage that sort of behavior."
Jason's troubles fall in the hazy area where a legitimate desire to share information--such as information about Jason's troubles--collides with an equally legitimate desire to support him and help him "deal skillfully with the rough changes that the blues-focused life" is clearly putting him through.
When in doubt, I'd rather err on the side of discretion rather than maximal exposure. Experience teaches me--and the recent fiasco involving a now-banned forum member makes resoundingly clear--that the world is full of bad intentions, and that some of those bad intentions (a desire to humiliate, bring down, smear, slander) may even show up at a forum dedicated to blues harmonica.
My administrators and I--and you, hopefully--are grateful for the way in which this forum, at its best, has elements of mutual aid society. We don't always agree, God knows, but we DO share a love for an instrument and an idiom, and an abiding respect for the people who play it well (and not so well). I don't believe in hero worship. I do believe in extending a helping hand in a time of need, especially when the person involved has been so generous with his knowledge and his gifts.
Jason was extremely generous to me in my own time of great need, back in 2000. I owe him. Let's try to be good about all this.
Edited to add: My administrators and I have agreed that it would be best to lock this thread. We also request that you do not start threads or post items in other threads about Jason's current troubles. Feel free to do that at Harp-L (if the admins there don't mind) and other forums.
Last Edited by on Aug 24, 2011 9:03 AM
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