For most, the proposed $1,000 check from the government won't even pay one month's rent...

Red De.......oh wait.

Nevermind.

 

PM works both ways.

I've tried very hard to be polite and not accuse anyone of lying - or even being wrong.
If somebody claims to be an expert in a given subject, I might give their postings a little more merit....or a LOT more merit, as it is justified.

I'll try in the future to use TWO sets of kid gloves when dealing with fragile egos....BUT....the "report a post" button works.....as does the "ignore user" button.
HOWEVER (comma!) I do not gladly accept the "experts veto."

Too many times "paid experts" pollute our courtrooms, news outlets, classrooms, etc and waive their credentials about like a light saber.
This last statement is specifically not intended for @hkmb specifically as he tends to be fairly polite, if somewhat thin skinned.

Too bad.

I will state publicly and sincerely that If I offended ANYONE (other than the MSS, FSS, or any other TLAs) then I apologize unreservedly.
Written forums are a hard media to work with and sometimes when I read something that I've tapped out years ago I'm very distressed to find that it might have been taken altogether differently that I intended.

This public apology is null and void for anyone who has used Russia or Russian more than 20 times this month OR who posts only in the political sub-forum.

BT

 

To no person in particular, I have noticed many members are more under stress in the last week or so and it has shown on PC in many places in the forums. This is why I take a break from the forum for a few days from time to time. It helps. Many are stressed more than they realize. I try to keep that in the back of my mind on all the forums I participate in these days.

 

i hadn't noticed, might just be the nature of the discussion?

 

Only thing I've really noticed is less threads but anything COVID-19 related has gotten more posts.

Easier for me to get through everything when I get home after work.

 

At the risk of actually getting back to the original post........

Looks like the upper house squeezed out a 2 Terra-buck.....um......"payout."

We're 1/3 of the way there.....

 

Oh, man, am I unhappy with the way this thread went. I was busy with other stuff all yesterday so I only get to see the wreckage. I won't say it's a bad thing to be mindful of stress or how postings can be taken amiss or any of that, but for the love of pete, something entirely different was going on here. We had a ten-year member of our community making thoughtful, on-topic, conversation-advancing posts for three pages, when another member shows up 49 posts in with nothing to contribute but a one-note, sloganeering, repetitive, goading, troll shtick that goes on for four pages, until the contributing member is driven from the community. Which is what happens when we, as a community, blow it as far as saying we've got any standards here.

Yes, I have looked over the troll's membership history too; joined nine years ago, started one thread, has a seeming strong interest in the topic of ethanol in gas (with some penchant for trollery visible there too), with even the exact same sloganeering shtick used in this thread going back eight years if not more.

There are close, difficult calls, and this wasn't one of them. Of course it's up to the mods to wield any actual hammers, but I'm pretty sure the rest of us as a community can do better when watching a mugging than just hey you two, pipe down over there, can't you just split the cash?.

If we're going to choke on calling a troll a troll for fear of looking biased against whatever inchoate "political" glitter is dusted onto the trolling, we've just given every troll a foolproof instruction manual on how to wreck the community we've got here.

I hope that isn't the future.

 

I'll believe it when the check clears.

 

FHOP is like a relief valve....and they're gonna do what relief valves DO, which is to protect the parent equipment by allowing excess pressure to escape the parent system.

Sometimes this process is LOUD....MESSY....and if you're too close to the relief valve, it can be a little uncomfortable.

The future is in OUR hands....

As for me....
I've only used the "ignore" button three times in 10 years, and it's only active for one current member presently - and I only use it because diuretic posters often post 'in volume' or plaster threads with tons of cut-copy and pasted material.......as if our phones were not already jammed full of the stuff.
Yeah.
I know.....
I'm long winded too....
Same with the 'nanny' button.
I've used it only to summon the attention of our mods to a member who is struggling with an issue.

If I have a problem with a specific post, I'll usually confront THAT USER by PM.
(praise in public....criticize in private)
I personally try to resist feeding trolls by giving them what they want most - which is my attention.

We've lost members in the past who have taken their ball and bat and gone home - but that's how communities work.
Some people move away, and when they do...perhaps it's time to pop into the noob corner and greet a new member or jab the "new posts" button and try to help somebody out there who has a question.
That's what communities do.

Tomorrow morning....the sun will much more than likely rise again.
get up and get after it or stay in bed.

That's OUR call.

 

Cash it FAST.
Spend it faster.....