So, have the forums jumped the shark?

[cxt]

Bill

Have you been in some of the classes I have had to endure?

Academics taint what it used to be.....I probably shouldn't even be posting this----too many people find out that I'm an advocate of......."gasp"....free markets and they will ban me from the faculity lounge in case it's contagious.

It's weird---tell someone your an expert in "philostogen theory" or some equally discredited area of research and you can't even get an interview.
But tell them your an expert in communism/socialism/marxism-----IMO equally bankrupt systems that have clearly--demonstrably---repeatdly--failed on a massive scale and cost 100's of millions of people their lives----and chances are your going to get tenure.

And not for framing/teaching it as a "cautionary" tale either.

[Bill Glasheen]

cxt

I was counting on you knowing that I was of course yanking your chain. Others may not have realized this. But we go way back.

Pinko!

I have to be very careful at work. The founders of my company are both academics. I love them beyond words, but have learned to be careful about talking politics. Oye!

People vote their self interest. Academics (the "unbiased" ones... ) live off the government grant teat. Been there, done that. I understand what butters their bread.

- Bill

[Valkenar]

People vote their self interest.

Well not always. Sometimes we vote our conscience.

But you know, I'm getting married in 3 days, and I'll be 30 in two months so pretty soon I'll be lobbying to replace the income tax with an annual "spit on the homeless" day. And when that's done I'll be sure to outlaw birth control and instead advocate wars to annex lands for my precious unconceived future children to live on.Because nothing and nobody is more important than my babies.

[Bill Glasheen]

Justin

Did you ever read Beyond Freedom and Dignity? BF Skinner thinks you're full of sheet.

Even altruism is self-serving. The greatest gift is often to the giver. Most people with a half-decent EQ figure that out pretty quickly.

Congrats on the marriage, and best wishes to you both. That and (perhaps) your first kid are life-altering events. But you'll figure all that out soon enough.

- Bill

[Jake Steinmann]

I don't post as much lately for a couple of reasons.

1. I'm self-employed in a tough economy. Frankly, I need to be devoting time to a lot of other things.

2. While I wouldn't say the forums have jumped the shark, there is a certain predictably that occurs sometimes (see Bill vs. Justin, round 8000, above).

3. Not being a Uechi guy, there's a number of threads I just don't have much to say on. I don't feel comfortable discussion the applications or interpretations of forms I don't practice, nor the utility of drills I don't do. So I try to stay out of those.

#1 is certainly the biggest reason, however. $ talks, or in this case, shuts me up.

[Gene DeMambro]

We are still wailting for those that are complaining about the forums (which I am not one of them) to explain how they would make them better.

Notice not much from them after they were first asked.

[robb buckland]

"We are still wailting for those that are complaining about the forums (which I am not one of them) to explain how they would make them better. "

And waiting ........

[MikeK]

I wasn't complaining Gene, just making an observation and asking a few questions. Things aren't jumping around here like they used to and I was wondering why and doing a little speculating based on what some other posters have said to me.

Now if you have a great topic to discuss I'd love to hear it.

[Jake Steinmann]

No complaints here either. Truth be told, it really doesn't bother me one way or another. The question was asked, so I answered.

[robb buckland]

[Jake Steinmann]

Who was that directed at?

[robb buckland]

You ..I like your site it looks like a good marketing concept for citizen self defense

[Bill Glasheen]

I don't have a problem with Mike asking the question. He's not mean-spirited, and he has no agenda. And he is observant.

I've seen the popularity of martial arts wax and wane with what movies are playing, what sports are popular, what shows are on TV, how the economy is doing, and what various demographic groups are up to in their various stages of life.

This is a time of waning for sure - for a lot of things. But for the core that's always there it's a time of deep personal commitment and also one of reflection. Without these pauses and opportunities to question the status quo, we can become both stale and irrelevant.

It's not like I haven't been reflecting a lot myself. I have my own issues that I'm dealing with that would flatten many people. They've certainly flattened many lives around me. Right now many of us are creeping along in survival mode. And yet... we often come back to our personal martial practices to derive strength for the battles we face.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities


- Bill

[Jake Steinmann]

You ..I like your site it looks like a good marketing concept for citizen self defense

Thanks Robb.

Honestly, the site needs a serious revision right now, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. Soon, I hope.

[Van Canna]

I don't have a problem with Mike asking the question. He's not mean-spirited, and he has no agenda. And he is observant.

I've seen the popularity of martial arts wax and wane with what movies are playing, what sports are popular, what shows are on TV, how the economy is doing, and what various demographic groups are up to in their various stages of life.

This is a time of waning for sure - for a lot of things. But for the core that's always there it's a time of deep personal commitment and also one of reflection. Without these pauses and opportunities to question the status quo, we can become both stale and irrelevant.

It's not like I haven't been reflecting a lot myself. I have my own issues that I'm dealing with that would flatten many people. They've certainly flattened many lives around me. Right now many of us are creeping along in survival mode. And yet... we often come back to our personal martial practices to derive strength for the battles we face.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way -

in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities


- Bill

Thanks for this Bill.

And the best of luck with your personal issues...life is what is after all...we don't have much control over it in spite of hopes to the contrary.

Again my best wishes for your life to get back to normal...

I feel your pain through 'Dickens' ...at one time or another didn't we ....don't we all.