A question for the old timers...

c.i.

http://able2know.org/user/cicerone_imposter/

posted on Saturday

his health update thread

http://able2know.org/topic/265210-1

http://able2know.org/user/farmerman/

posted earlier today

(if you go to profiles, posts show from most recent)

http://able2know.org/user/jlnobody/

last posted in mid-August ... but not the high volume poster like some of us are/have been

____


use the search function on the upper right - you can find pretty much everyone whose name you can recall the spelling for

Aha! I forgot I could do that! Lol Thank you!

We lost a bunch soon after the new A2K went live, mostly they felt that the new platform was too complicated or they just did not like the feel. We lost a lot more because of the meanness, mostly from the liberals, as they worked tirelessly over years and often in mob action to drive away those who dont agree with them. Those who stay tend to be male, american and those who like to fight or argue. I am an american white guy who likes to argue.

Another thing which seems to be true is that those who dont spend a lot of time here tend to find the new A2K too much work, because when they log on they are flooded with many pages of threads and have to find what they want, were as before they would just check the forums that they were interested in. The self tabbing system never worked, both because of abuse tags and because many members like myself dont tag threads at all. The hamsters currently seem to be making a big effort to get good tags on threads, but it is a constant huge chore and that is only one of the problems here.

Massive amounts of hostility, often wholly gratuitous and done by people who swear up and down that their **** dont stink is the main reason you dont find so many people here anymore.


EDIT: when were you here before? I have been here since 07 but I dont remember you under your old name.

That is sad Hawkeye. There were a lot of good people here. I would have liked to have the opportunity just to say hi. Though I don't know how many would even wanna talk to me again anyway.

"Those who stay tend to be male, american and those who like to fight or argue. I am an american white guy who likes to argue."

Glad you and everyone else stayed. I'm not male and I don't care for arguing, but I don't know that I am ever going to be able to walk away permanently. I honestly cared for everyone here. I will always hope the best for them, whether they are still here or not.

Though I must say... It was a lot more fun when people actually talked. Lol

the diversity of smart interesting people was always the strength. The regime here never understood that, even though I tried to tell them. Robert straight up saying that he did not give a damn about the community, and his being mean to people, was a driver of the exodus.

The only real positive is that the effort of the liberals here to cleanse the place of alternative opinions has failed. Now we are waiting for them to come around and make an effort to be civil. I am an ex liberal, calling myself a Zen Socialist, which is the best described as a left version of libertarianism. I spend a lot of time arguing for honesty, freedom, and justice with particular attention to calling for an end of language controls and an end to the abuse of language in the service of political activism. I also spend a lot of time calling for an end of the tyranny of the elite.

Gosh One, the last is still around, quite active

Man quite an expert in geology, makes erstwhile rockhound like me very envious, wish had done more reading outside G&M

To translate, dalehileman is an older guy who likes to abbreviate everyone's names, can't seem to help himself. Farmerman already has nicknames, well used over at least a dozen years: FM, or Farmer.

Hi, Treya, glad you are back.
I am not participating in your spiritual thread as I'm probably one of the least spiritual people here, but I'm interested in how you are. I remember liking you. Though - I might have sometimes ranted at you instructively, in my then view. (don't remember, just remember my being opinionated).

Robert... Who was that? I've been pondering my own reasons for continuing on... Besides that I have missed so many. So far I have come up with this: I am sick and tired of hypocrisy. No matter what side of the issue it comes from. However, it does seem to be predominantly the religious who proudly wear their hypocrisy as a robe. Can't really say I have seen much of anything from any christians here yet.

Except neo, who leans to the positive side of things, which is a big plus. Have they all been chased away too? I have been wanting to speak out about this for years, but have kept silent knowing full well I had no room to talk. I hate watching people hurt people. Hypocrisy hurts everyone involved. I'm tired of standing by and watching relious people beat the world up with their bible and then attribute such behavior to God. Whether people believe in Him or not, no one deserves to be treated that way.

I would suppose there may also be a few more things I need to deal with personally as well. Looking through some of the older stuff stirred up some things I didn't realize were still there. Lol surprise surprise!

Truth be known I have been afraid to reach out to anyone. I mean it when I tell people their opinion of me does not affect who I am. However, rejection still hurts.

Owner, the one who kept saying " I dont give a damn what you want or think, I own this place and I will do what ever I damn well please with it". He has been mostly not posting for a couple of years, I think he took my advise to stop being so hostile and stop making so many changes around here. Some people are concerned that this means that he lost interest and might close A2K, especially since he claimed that he was mostly interested in making money with A2K, and all of those plans failed miserably.

Ya, that has not been my experience, I think that hypocrisy, lying and bullying knows no quarantine, that is is pervasive across all groups. I also think that this is one of many signs that this civilization is ending. I am sure that our entire way of life, to include our belief system, is in a death spiral. I wish I was going to live long enough to see what is next. It will not be the Christianity that you know, that is dying out especially quickly, so you are largely wasting your time with your preoccupation with it.

Robert is Robert Gentel, the owner/creator of this site (though he has partners now, in a more general business and doesn't post here anymore; well, rarely). He was known for years by his username, Craven de Kere. Very smart man who went through a lot in his life so far. He transitioned to using his own name, very straightforward. Some of us oldies observed his growing up, as he was sharp in his teens and later, able to be more playful on the boards back then. And he observed us doing that or not, growing up.
I miss him posting. I still consider him a mix of smart and wise and the usual goofups. Lucid at argument, able at debate.

Thank you osso. I remember liking you too. Even if you did sometimes rant at me lol. It was well deserved when it happened, kinda like a kid getting a spanking. What you and the others did not know is that despite what has happened since then in my life, that point was a very pivitol in who I am today. Who I have become and am becoming. The things that were said that hurt and seemed so unkind to me at the moment, were actually the greatest acts of kindness in the end. I needed to hear those things, even though I didn't want to. I will always be grateful that instead of pitying me like I thought I wanted you to, you all told me the truth.

Interesting, and disturbing. I can see Robert keeping this place open because he loves the Jousting and loves exposing his brain to something different than the society generally allows now, but very few people are willing to put either their time or treasure into the ideal of the combat of ideas anymore. I have this vision of partners saying "Robert, this is a business, not a shell for your hobby...close the ************".

Lol Frank

Oooooh! Craven! Yep. I remember him. It is sad that he has gone away. Maybe it didn't end up as he hoped, but there has been some good to come out of this thing.

"Ya, that has not been my experience, I think that hypocrisy, lying and bullying knows no quarantine, that is is pervasive across all groups."

I would have to agree actually. I know my perspective may not have reached a balance yet. I have seen a lot from the Christian circles because those are the ones I surrounded myself with. Who flood my fb page... daily... With hypocrisy, lying, and bullying. Being here opens my eyes to new perspectives. Ideals. New ways to look at things. I like that. It's like a breath of fresh air.

Hawkeye posted something anti Robert and then I called him an ass, considering explicating on the reasons but leaving it as is. We both deleted, which explains onevoice's post.