Posted on 02/05/2002 6:25:28 PM PST by Windy-Dave
There is something that has evolved here on Free Republic Topics. There are many good topics started here but because of the inability to stay on the subject started, the debates get steered into the ditch. I derrive the majority of my news saavy off of this forum. This is very disconcerting for me in this respect and I always "Try" to stay focused on what is being discussed but it is very difficult to do.
I don't know if it is done intentionally and I know there are disruptive people who enjoy creating chaos and dis- unity. This forum being what it is and what it does, for large numbers of people out here in the ozone, makes it vitally important that we get better communication and exchange of ideas.
I hope that you will attempt to do this but not at the expense of spirited debate. As I said much of what I know comes from this and other similiar forums. I am not the sharpest tack in the box so I need all the help I can get to stay up and informed!
You have whales where you live? Wow!
Do whale spouts really work?
Hmmmmm . . . interesting. I didn't realize a USB plug could be used for that!
Same as bttt.
I've been looking for an article all night on Ken Lay's missing status. I haven't seen one.
What does bttt mean?
The Glass Bead Game is thus a mode of playing with the total contents and values of our culture; it plays with them as, say, in the great age of the arts a painter might have played with the colors on his palette. All the insights, noble thoughts, and works of art that the human race has produced in its creative eras, all that subsequent periods of scholarly study have reduced to concepts and converted into intellectual values the Glass Bead Game player plays like the organist on an organ. And this organ has attained an almost unimaginable perfection; its manuals and pedals range over the entire intellectual cosmos; its stops are almost beyond number. Theoretically this instrument is capable of reproducing in the Game the entire intellectual content of the universe.
--Hermann Hesse
Oh, and MY favorite opera is La Rondine.
Reading all the comments makes the news more interesting. Here and there I might find a post offensive or off-topic, but I realize others might be offended or bewildered by my comments. If you're looking for "straight news, no debate, no laughs" there are lots of links from FreeRepublic to other conservative, more traditional news sites. If a serious discussion of a particular topic is what you want, you can invite other like-minded posters to email you privately via FreeRepublic or meet you at another location to chat. If there are particular people you enjoy conversing with, you can invite them to comment on certain articles. I'm not sure how to do that, but I notice others doing it. You'll get to where you skim over the names you know usually bring chaos to the table, but even those folks might surprise you with a gem of insight from time to time.
A certain amount of rabbit-chasing is normal, even in private conversations. And if an article's discussion deteriorates into a hopeless muddle, you can always go on to the next article. There is too much to read here to linger on a post that's gone haywire, especially if that confuses or irritates you. Have a great week.
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