So glad to see a few good folks still about....

[MacBeth]

I have been pretty scarce when it became clear that either you court conflict or have so little action that folks wander away. I guess I never got the hang of how to court that middle space successfully. But that does not mean that I do not appreciate everything that went before.

I do promise to drop by more often - or as often as my recently reversed decision about retirement allows...I did decide to return to work for an organization I have worked with for many years when they had a need. Now Director of Human Resources for a three-county, 3 clinin alcohol and subatance abuse non-profit. Keeps me on my toes. I promised them at least 6 months, and promised Richard no more than 3 years.

Glad to see those who are still conversing from time to time here. I will be here more moving forward.

[Deleted]

Hi Beth. I still pop in at least once a day to see if there is anything new, but usually don't have much to say.

[firefly]

Hi, Beth,

glad to see you here, too. I stop in almost daily but a lot of folks seem to be missing. I think we're all too worried by the daily "breaking news" to think about or write about "discussing" the State of the Union.

It changes from pundit to pundit and from moment to moment.

I am waiting to be either raptured, nuked, imprisoned, tortured, starved to death, cut off of health care, being treated by Dr. Kavorkian, or being found happily as a successful suicide.

It ain't a pretty picture any place I look. And the damned heat and drought isn't helping any.

Is everybody else on the Democrat side getting inundated with requests for $3.00 donations, or anything above, while being advised as to how many millions Romney is raking in. I've got so many requests in my email that I would have to use up my entire social security to send them what they ask.

And the ironic part is that it is the ones who are asking for Obama's election fund who are asking for money to maintain their ability to continue asking for more funds.

It's "If we don't get some money we can't keep up our newsletters, and we will lose the internet. So, I wonder if they are asking for money for Obama's campaign, or for money for them to continue sending their newsletters.

I'm too old for this crud.

Have a nice day. I dare you!m rofl.

ff

[joethree56]

Hi Beth,
I look in from time to time but have scaled this to the amount of activity here. Which now I actually think about it is about as close to creating a self fulfilling prophecy as is possible.
The thing is that this place is still open and one or two do drop in. Perhaps if we few, we happy few were to post occasionally on what local non events or burning issues are the topics of current everyday life it would at least keep a light burning in the window.

[MacBeth]

you make an excellent point. I had sort of given up the ghost whe it seemed no one was reading - but i can do much, much better....and will

[Brian]

Instead of commenting anew in this thread, I'll paste some related comments I wrote in an older thread below.


This board started out with a limited number of members to begin with. Nothing wrong with that, but as time goes on, people get busy, lives change, availability for stuff like this changes, etc. Take me, for instance: I now have a totally different job/career than I once did. For many years, I was more or less a blue-collar laborer. But then, a little over a year ago, I made a complete career change. Now I work in an office, which, of course, involves a good amount of computer work each day.

In other words, while computers (including stuff like this) once felt much more like "entertainment" to me at the end of a long, very physical day, computers are now the last thing I want to do most days when I get home. Why? Well, my new job entails a lot of computer use. So I like to do other things when I get off work.

Now, I still enjoy posting on groups and so forth; I just don't engage in it not as much as before. I'm still an assistant manager on other current events forum. But I now participate there a few days a week versus what used to be an every day thing. That seems to be a happy medium due to my new lifestyle and schedule.

There also isn't the diversity of opinions here that there once was. This board seemed most active in terms of debate or discussion when there were enough folks on "both" sides of the aisle. That hasn't been the case here for some time now. Although I've always been on the conservative side, I can't imagine not having liberal folks around to talk with, debate with, exchange ideas with, etc. That's really how we learn things in life. It just gets too boring only talking to folks who have the exact same opinions as we do.

The Proboards "format" also is not one that's very friendly to a lot of traffic, new members, etc. That's just the way it is.

Although there were a few times I strongly disagreed with Beth in terms of some management action here, it's important to keep in mind that Beth and Georgina have literally made thousands of decisions in running this board over the years. On the whole, I think Beth has done an excellent job of running this board and and keeping things going. She really has. That goes for Georgina, too.

If there is anything I'd recommend, it's that this board would work better if it was moved to Yuku. It's really easy to run and control a board on Yuku in terms of membership size. Plus, there is a lot of traffic at Yuku in terms of people looking for boards to join and post on. Beth could not only keep this group's membership intact, she'd also be able to allow in as many or as few "new" members as made sense for whatever size board she had in mind. And that could change over time. Membership could be opened for a while and then closed for a while once the board got bigger than she was comfortable with in terms of managing it.

Anyhow, that's my two sense on this! : )

[wheelspinner]

I'm going to keep dropping by to post my inane and idealistic opinions. I hope that you will all still be here to discuss them but, even if you aren't, there will be somewhere in the world where I can air an opinion without fear of being contradicted. ;-)

Please stick around folks but, if it's no longer for you, I'm wishing you all the best.

Greg

[guest]

For me, the main reason behind stepping out of the forum was that there wasn't any new blood. As those with conservative viewpoints dropped off, the forum became whatsnews vs. Wayne, and I got tired of it. I pop in and lurk every month or two to see how old friends are doing, because I do feel an attachment to you guys, but don't want to get beat over the head with a stick for expressing an opposing viewpoint.

I'm not the only one who has left, and that's a downright shame. I learned a lot. Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not closed minded- through discussion with you all, my opinions on 1st Amendment and 4th Amendment (among others) evolved. I have new views on freedom of speech, privacy, the rights of the accused, freedom of religion, drug laws, etc. I even joined a political party, something I never imagined I would do. Yeah, I am stubborn about a few issues, but I'm not the only one.

I think most people have some flexibility in their viewpoints, and it's a shame that people here have closed themselves off when they have so much to offer. Some managed conflict with outsiders like me would do the members of this boards some good, and allow the members to do some good in the outside world.

Just my $.02 worth.

Wayne

[joethree56]

Nice to hear from you Wayne. Yes I can see your point of view but just as you have strong views on certain fundamental issues then so do others from the opposite side of the spectrum and so exist a gulf which is difficult to bridge. For all that though I for one used to enjoy your contributions here and was delighted to see your post.

[wheelspinner]

Ditto to what Joe said Wayne. I understand you may have felt put upon, but your readiness to dfend your views meant at we had to work to support ourown. That is the essence of a good debate, and an intellectual exchange that is well worth having. If we change somebody's mind, that's just a bonus.