10/25/03 Newsletter

jimnyc

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Aug 28, 2003
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Welcome to the US Message Board Community Newsletter

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Today's Date is: 10-26-2003. This newsletter covers activity since 10-12-2003.
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"Why I am Thankful for this Board" by Moi - Member since 9/03

Everyone I meet asks me what my experience was on that infamous day our lives changed forever- 9/11/01. Funny thing is, my answer to that question is as simple now as it was before that day- “I thanked my lucky stars that I lived in the United States”.

“What”, they cried, “aren’t you the least bit distressed that people died and are continuing to die all over the world? Don’t you realize that Americans deserved it and are hypocritical?”

Well, yes. Even with the terrorism brought to our door and the imperfections of our country exposed, I’m proud, thankful and happy to be a citizen of the United States. You know why? Because I have a choice. It’s my choice to live here or not - even in which state and city. I chose to work and which type of work I do, too. I have a choice about where I shop, what I buy and whom I associate with. I have the freedom to do all kinds of things: picket for causes, support charities of my choice, read books of my choice, speak my mind. I could write an entire continent’s trees worth of how free I am to make choices.

Unfortunately, some of our choices are between the lesser of two evils. It’s difficult to know how to choose under those circumstances, or to recognize the wisdom of when to walk away. Sometimes choice is a gamble that you ultimately lose. I would never presume that I was perfect nor would I say that my country is without problems. The problems that we have, however, are preferable, to me anyway, to the problems facing other nations. And solving those problems will not always be easy. But there is a continued progression here. Speaking in terms of humanity, we are better off today than yesterday. Is the struggle for freedom over? Of course not. There’s more than one way to do many things and just because something’s right for me doesn’t make it right for anyone or everyone else. Continually debating and discussing different points of view is crucial to making sure that all points are covered and every different solution is considered. As many famous people have pa
raphrased “I may not agree with you, but I clearly believe in your right to say and believe what you want”.

This message board allows members to discuss their beliefs and thoughts, without censorship. It provides a forum for members to try and make sense of why and how recent events happened. It’s also a place to just chat with people who, because of geography, we would otherwise never meet. The press (both written and televised) can certainly claim to be “free” but freedom of the press isn’t just about having the liberty to say anything. The flip side is that the news agencies are free NOT to report things. Let’s face it, by continually broadcasting or writing bad news, controversy and arguments they certainly sell a lot of papers or bring in advertising dollars. Whom do you think benefits in that situation?

Clearly, the news media is interested in making money. But there is no guarantee that the public benefits just because the agency turned a profit. By choosing what to air or print based on what sells, the news agencies are limiting free debate. This board allows members to decide which issues they wish to debate and explore (just do it in the correct section!) and you are free to read, write or ignore any aspect of it. No one stands to lose advertising sponsorship if the people reading the information are turned off. There is no editor to lose his job if the board of directors sees profits sliding. The board itself is an open forum to debate and discuss.



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US MESSAGE BOARD FEATURED MEMBER OF THE MONTH
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This month's featured member is:

Gop_Jeff

Jeff contributes daily to this board and and is very knowledgeable about both history & religion. His posts are generally logical and well thought out. His 2 ongoing threads - 'How are we really doing?' and 'Jesus was a liberal? & Thou Shalt Not Kill' have provided vehicles to encourage daily participation of other members. That is a substantial contribution to the betterment of our board.

Congratulations Jeff, and thanks for being a valuable member of the US Message Board Community!


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HOT TOPICS
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Threads with the most replies:

Title: "Whats really going on in IRAQ no "Happy News" (posted 10-17-2003 by Dawoud) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=643

Title: "How are we really doing?" (posted 10-06-2003 by Gop_Jeff) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=553

Title: "Beltway sniper is Muslim" (posted 10-21-2003 by jimnyc) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=686

Title: "america's relationship with turkey" (posted 10-24-2003 by Spillmind) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=742

Title: "Supreme Court to Decide Pledge Case" (posted 10-14-2003 by jimnyc) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=613

Title: "Partial birth abortions banned" (posted 10-21-2003 by jimnyc) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=698

Title: "Jesus was a liberal? & Thou Shalt Not Kill" (posted 10-02-2003 by Gop_Jeff) http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=486


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US MESSAGE BOARD STATISTICS
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Members: 230
Threads: 728
Posts: 6,906
Total hits since 10/6: 662,718
Unique visits since 10/6: 6,125

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Once again, thanks to all of you for your support and contributions to the US Message Board!

Jim
[email protected]
 
I'm so honored to win this award... I have a short list of people to thank... my agent, my high school guidance counselor, my substitute kindergarten monitor, Microsoft, Denzel Washington, the Denver Broncos' offensive line, and all my fans who came to the "Stop the Madness" rally in Atlanta... I love you all... (sob)


Seriously, though, I do appreciate being appreciated. And while I don't get to post much on the weekends, this has quickly become a favorite place to hang out. Thanks Jim! :thup:
 
my high school guidance counselor
Haha, I always swore that if I ever won any award, I'd dedicate it to my high school guidance counselor. This woman is a total you-know-what for 2 reasons...

1) My parents wanted to open some sort of account or something for my college fund in, like, ninth grade or something. She told my parents that since my grades were SOOOOO horrible (I think I had like a B, 3 C's, and a D at the time) that I'd never get into any college. I pretty much proved her wrong there.

2) She was constantly trying to convince me and my parents that my dream of being a director was a stupid and pointless ambition. She said I should go to school for computers or business and maybe keep the directing thing on the side as a hobby. Y'know, the sort of spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, work your butt off, put every ounce of energy you've got into it hobby. To me, that's like someone saying, yeah, you might wanna just keep that medical school thing as a hobby and get a job as a plumber.

So, Miss Neumeister, make sure you're watching the Oscars when I win my first one, I promise you'll be in there!
 

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