Good luck fighting the good fight, that ever noble pursuit of educating the masses about an arbitrary set of rules.
Back in the real world, some of the most enlightening discussion is "off-topic". So this example is not HN, but: I still remember back in the heyday of Slashdot reading the thread on 9/11 as it happened. Did anybody complain that that wasn't "News for Nerds"? What's happening in Ukraine is in that similar category of potentially world-shaping events. It doesn't hurt any of us to start paying attention.
> Have you read the commentary here? A lot of it is really bad.
I agree a lot of it is pretty far from the mark, but I object more strongly to the idea that one must dogmatically follow the rules.
Also, I do think folks here sometimes get carried away with the "no politics" rule in particular, as if to define politics too broadly or kind of miss the point. (OK, so this has political implications, but imagining some sort of time warp, would you deny a story on World War II because it's "too political"?)
I think politics is fascinating. But 99% of internet discussions about politics are crap. I'm beginning to develop some theories about that revolving around the idea that good discussion is costly, and cheap shots/conspiracy theories/empty words are very cheap, meaning the former get crowded out by the latter. In any event though, the discussions are pretty much horrible and worsen the site, which is one of the few good places to discuss hacking and startups out there.
Exactly. If whatever is happening in Ukraine ends up sparking a large-scale war (hopefully not), you will be reading about it in history books. That makes it both new and interesting, which fits the guidelines.
You folks can downvote all you want. I am more than willing to spend my "karma" to attempt to preserve this site from politics.
Also, while we're being picky, "I wish it were", not "I wish it was".