Interested in the election?

With the election upon us there could be a place for discussion:

uk.current-events.general-election-2015

I say "could be" because for reasons unfathomable the powers-that-be (a.k.a. the "Committee", the handful of people that control what uk.newsgroups are available for you to read) seem determined to prevent it. They have already rejected the first group-creation request, and have now required that a subsequent request go through the extended "RFD- CFV" process.

This process is not only more rigorous but is also time-consuming - there are minimum periods that must pass between the stages. It's no coincidence that one member has already calculated and gleefully posted the fastest-possible scenario; one which results in you not being allowed to use the group until six weeks from now, even though if asked to vote you'd say "YES" right now.

That's the minimum. It's that incredibly long partly because of "internal lists" (the part of the machinery wherein the powers-that-be privately discuss and organize their responses) taking up roughly three weeks.

It's possible that it could be much longer. Part of this extended process unfortunately gives wreckers a chance to put the boot in. All they need do is foment arguments and quibbles over bike-shed issues, personalities, the dregs of the previous arguments, indeed anything that could possibly slow things down. This is innocently called "discussion".

The discussion takes place in uk.net.news.config - but if you really are are interested in using uk.current-events.general-election-2015 I strongly suggest the following:

1. Subscribe to uk.net.news.announce so you get the post which tells you who to email for a vote-ballot (this will not be revealed until after an internal-list delay).

1. Ignore the wreckers in uk.net.news.config. It's probably best if you don't post (or read) there at all. If they know they have a running argument it just delays things even longer. There will be tempting posts, calls to declare in advance, ad homs, and so on. There may even be claims that by not allowing yourself to get dragged in you are not interested" and so your vote won't count, which is laughable since you declare your interest by voting.