I have nothing of much importance to say, except to say, this site is probably the best thing since sliced bread. Lucky for me, SWMBO pointed it out to me and here I/we are.
I was a member of a motorcycle forum run by a bloke who would ban anyone who held an opinion that differed from his. I dropped off the site after watching members cop 24 hour bans for disagreeing with a statement or an opinion that the owner did not agree with.
On one particular thread, a discussion was taking place regarding certain American State laws (some states in the USA do not have helmet laws). It was a very interesting discussion at the time, until the 'owner' jumped in and stated that his opinion of this particular law was XYZ, and that if the discussion did not revolve around his state law, which stated that helmets MUST be worn, then the posters would be banned from any further discussion.
One long-standing and respected member who was not involved in this discussion, asked that the participants be permitted their views on the subject, as it was a very sensible debate that many were following with interest. These blokes were quoting stats and research papers etc, with regard to the subject.
Firstly, the two participants were banned from the site because, "There was no value in discussing the rights or wrongs of helmet wearing and may induce some people to stop wearing them altogether."
The gentleman who asked that the discussion be permitted to run it's course was banned for 24 hours. That was when I decided to drop out. By the way, I was NOT a participant in this discussion.
The site is only open to sycophants.
Many of us were emailing privately for fear of offending the 'owner', and it came to pass that something like 30 members dropped out altogether at this time. I have never visited the site since, in protest, as have many others who I keep in touch with privately.
My rant is to point out that this site (WWF), seems to permit open dialogue and differing opinions, which I find refreshing. It makes for great entertainment at times and the information is amazing and helpful.
Maybe we "Woodies" are a different bunch of people who respect, welcome and invite each other's opinions. I like that.
