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... I've known him for over three years, and been privy to countless of his decisions about when to ping or not ping the evolution ping list. But again, if you question my judgment, let's put it to the test instead of playing your childish games: Hey, PatrickHenry, when you pinged the evo list in post #2 in this thread, did you do so for innocent reasons (so evolutionists could check into a thread on evolution if they chose), or did you do so for the nefarious motives imputed to you by darbymcgill, to wit ...

It bothers me that you spend any time at all responding to the idiocies posted by people who are obviously trolling. But since you've done so about the ping list, and the insane claim that I use the list when I've failed ...

"... to convince the un-washed they are out of their league, ping 50 or so of your distinguished scientist buddies and have them join the thread. The shear number of insults should begin to discourage the provocateur and others."

So, here's your response: You're correct and the mindless troll is wrong. Is anyone surprised? The ping list isn't a cry for help (but being a creationist troll certainly seems to be just that).

I prefer to use the list immediately, as soon as I've posted a thread I think will be of interest to the list members. If I haven't posted the thread myself, but learn about it early enough, then I sometimes agonize over whether it's "pingworthy" or should be ignored, and as most of the regulars are aware, I often seek other opinions about the quality of the thread before I deploy the list.

I try to ping very early in a thread, before it gets all wucked up by idiotic posters (who inevitably get their thrills by putting up star wars pics, claiming evolution is anti-Christian, and asking why there are still monkeys), because when a thread becomes loaded up with that troll trash too early, it's of no interest to rational freepers.

Contrary to the claim of the mindless troll, such garbage postings don't create intellectual problems that any one of us can't handle, or that require the summoning of help. Rather, they're like the presence of raw sewage at the early stage of the thread, which will discourage list members and rational newbies from participating. When many such remarks come in later, well after the ping (as in this thread) then I ignore them, but by then everyone's already in the thread, and some of us find the psychology of trolls to be entertaining.

Anyway, contrary to the deranged fantasy of the mindless troll, I don't use the ping list as a cry for help. I do it because I'm pretty sure after all this time what will interest the list and what won't.