I like the Freepers who aren't afraid to enter the fray and take unpopular stands, like sinkspur, Senator Pardek, Dog Gone, DoughtyOne, etc. There are many other people here who present good arguments and add spice and humor to this forum. Of course, I am leaving many, many people out which is why I don't like responding to threads like this.
IOW yes, I do miss the old days, the more eclectic mix and eccentric characters.
Which brings me to a quick parable...
A wealthy man wanted the most perfect car in the world. He had hear that Ferrari was a work of art and most probably the ultimate automotive statement.
After plunking down vast sums of money and waiting over a year, the Big Day finally arrived and the car was delivered. The man had it parked in a prominent spot at his home, then got a lawn chair and bottle of his best wine.
Over the next few hours he studied and considered the Ferrari from every perspective, marveling at it's beauty and perfection. Eventually Old Tom the local handyman wandered by. He had been doing carpentry work in the man's house and was finishing for the day. As he passed the Ferrari he stopped and also marveled at how beautiful the car was.
The new Ferrari owner was most pleased with this and couldn't resist talking to Old Tom.
"Isn't this a fantastic car?" he bragged, hoping to get Old Tom to admit it was perfect.
"Oh YES" said Old Tom. "It's almost perfect".
"ALmost?" asked the wealthy man. "What do you mean almost? Do you know how much this car cost? I waited over a year while it was hand crafted!"
"Yup" said Old Tom. "It's just too bad the front bumper is a half inch lower on the right than the left. You'd think that for that much money they'd get the darn bumper straight".
"Oh". laughed the wealthy man. "I think you're wrong about that. I was told this car is perfect".
"Weeellll" drawled Old Tom. "It's not just the bumper. The right and left doors are different, the taillights are uneven. Heck, I don't think there's one thing on the car that's perfect".
The wealthy man was incredulous, but Old Tom pulled out his tape and level and after a few minutes and dozens of measurments, he was proved correct. The car was an amalgamation of uneven, unequal and sometimes completely different parts from one side to the other. Even the distance between the front and rear wheels was different from the right side to the left.
The now disillusioned wealthy man silently retreated to his chair, poured more wine and angonized over how imperfect his perfect car was. He couldn't even bear to look at it thinking he'd been swindled into thinking it was perfect. He made plans to take it out on the dealership the next day. He was going to make them take it back or if he had to, sell it at a big loss to the next sucker.
Meanwhile Old Tom packed up his tools and walked off. "Still it IS a beautiful machine taken altogether" he said to himself. "Wish I could afford one like that".
Moral: It's our imperfections that create character, personality and make us memorable.
prisoner6
I remember one time when A+Bert came back from one of his perpetual bannings and we had a poll going on how long it would be before he was banned again.