[JoeXIII'007]

SNM is a very disturbing member indeed if you just take a quick look at his 32 posts. But, look through the dirt, dust off his posts, and you may come to understand as I have that he just couldn't put his very credible opinion out there in a reasonable way. Either because of a lack of education, knowledge, or just lack of ambition to put real thought into it.

In short, SNM is an unfortunate case of how a lack of education and/or lack of thought can make your outward appearance look miserable.

On that note, politics should be able to continue in a moderated fashion on CD.

Also, it should be told to all incoming users, unknown or identified, that it is recommended to post with thought, general intelligence, and overall care, NOT with sudden outbursts of rebellion or propaganda.

Users of this forum should at least have knowledge of all three sides of any issue: the good, the bad, and the unknown. This includes FIRST. The CD forum should be exactly that, a forum. Not a group of people under a trance who just talk about how great FIRST is, etc. etc. In fact, people critical of FIRST on these forums, or at the very least constructively critical, give us, and FIRST administrators, the other side that we should wisely consider. To sum up, be open, not just what you think to be open, but really open minded. Find those closed doors in your heads and unlock them. It will really help.

Finally, remember that even though we all put a lot of time and effort into our endeavors with FIRST, it is incredibly important to realize that there are certainly no garuntees in how everything will turn out. In any case, not everyone is going to be happy, not everyone will be supportive. Work at your own reputational and emotional risk.

To answer Koko's question on whether or not there is a solution, it's rather simple. Critical people like SNM, though very appaling, have thoughts and ideas that we can all take a moment to consider and act upon. Don't call members like them trolls either. They're human beings just like the rest of us, and deserve an equal amount of respect, for we all have errors, and challenges to overcome. If we work together, and take the ciriticism like food, and eat it, FIRST will grow in a much more respectable way, and with less conspiracy. It will be a solid, strong, and most importantly honest organization that has no 'I' in it's framework. CD will grow along with FIRST in this sense.

I hope I wasn't too confusing.

-Joe

PS: Censorship, as demonstrated in Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451, just doesn't work.