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Hey, Arator!

Hey Gargantua! How on earth have you remained unbanished? I saw Pardek and Poohbah hunting you down like hounddogs on a thread not so long ago and I only assumed that they had snuffed you out. I'm glad to see that they somehow couldn't bring themselves to pull the trigger...yet.

Good to post alongside you again. I am somewhat puzzled by this JimRob post... which is to say, if FReepers decide the time has come for the FR jig to "be up", JimRob will be the first to know it by the drying up of the donated cash.

If, on the other hand, this thread is merely a more-subtle-than-some-of-the-recent fundraising drives, I applaud the marketing strategy employed.

Well, I think Jim Rob was hoping to invite the worst sort of AFing behavior onto this thread to gin up and "us vs. them" hysteria and spook the herd into a stampede of mindless reflexive donating.

Unfortunately (for Jim Rob), I think that perceptive FReepers are realizing that us "AFers" are really just FReepers like themselves who have been mugged (or watched their FReeper friends be mugged) by FR's abusive management far too many times and, though banished, had the resourcefulness to maintain contact with our FReeper friends rather than slip quietly into post-banishment oblivion like so many others.

Anyway, Happy Holidays, Arator! Hope to be seeing you around!

Same to you, G!

Hi Arator, I thought you said you wanted to move to Afghanistan? JUST KIDDING! :)

How on earth have you remained unbanished?

I'm not really sure. I'm fairly certain JimRob knows who I am, but I haven't really been openly derisive to anyone since having reincarnated myself.

Maybe JimRob just harbors a touching sense of nostalgia for people like me who've been posting here since FR's first year of existence.

I saw Pardek and Poohbah hunting you down like hounddogs on a thread not so long ago

Those ineffectual dweebs! They couldn't get themselves banned from a Bill Clinton rally! How the hell are they going to stifle a juggernaut like me?

Not to mention, my companies have numerous sites with many ISP's, and many others on dedicated trunk lines all over the planet. I can pop back up as needed whenever, and as whomever, I wish to. Maybe they just understand the complete pointlessness of what may well be their deserved objections to my electrifying presence!

;-/

Well, it certainly isn't nessesary for more to jump onto this issue, but your post's comments demanded my honest assesment. As some know, I have sprung to your defense a time or two, which I only state as others may not be aware of that stance. Your opinion is developed based on your personal experience and perception and you are entitled to it. As a disagreeing aquaintance, I must differ on the following:

Well, I think Jim Rob was hoping to invite the worst sort of AFing behavior onto this thread to gin up and "us vs. them" hysteria and spook the herd into a stampede of mindless reflexive donating.

I disagree. The issues of finances and integraty had come up with a few posters and it appears to me that Jim wanted to bring it all out in the open. Then, so that those who had raised the issues wouldn't claim banning or post delition was an effort of his to hide the issue, he opened the board. In wanting to confront it head-on, as a responsible man addressing a character issue would do, he opened the forum to those that might be noted for their absence and contribution to the discussion. I suspect that there are many days he is tired of this hobby turned juggernaut.

Unfortunately (for Jim Rob), I think that perceptive FReepers are realizing that us "AFers" are really just FReepers like themselves who have been mugged (or watched their FReeper friends be mugged) by FR's abusive management far too many times and, though banished, had the resourcefulness to maintain contact with our FReeper friends rather than slip quietly into post-banishment oblivion like so many others.

We do know that many of you guys are just past freepers. IMHO, Jim's macro, larger, view of the management of his site has often put individuals in the unfortunant situation that their micro, individual, view of their participation was misunderstood or at cross purposes to Jim's management. Any of us that have had a post or article deleted have the immediate emotion and reaction to draw upon, in an experience like this site, that is personal--like participation in an extended family gathering. Like that gathering, we sometimes side with the second cousin we never liked when Grandma goes over the top.

Again, IMHO, outside of Jim's macro task, his personal, micro, tendancy appears to me to be to visit and converse with past freepers, both in defending himself on the net at-large, but also because he knows that there are those that would be his associates if circumstances were different and he, by his macro actions, has cut them off from something they valued. If he didn't have a wisp of that, I think he would just ignore the issue and the individuals.

Perhaps, I am just pollyanna, thinking the best of people to easily. If that is true, then I will keep thinking that way because it enables me to both miss you (except for your most relentless moments) and value what I find here.

I hope your Christmas is grand; mine is looking to be a great one.