On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:29:19 -0400, Awake <Awake@invalid.com> wrote:
>In article <20081003134441.180$Ep@newsreader.com>,
><Sad@missingfrinds.com> wrote:
>
>> I miss the good ol days :-(
>
>
>Should we miss what we never really had? Was the Fort really as good
>for everyone as we like to think it was?
>In any event, we can never go back. Everything changes.
>
>The Fort was at its best when there were loved and loving children
>playing here, for this is why the Fort is. Will this ever again be a
>real place for children to post? Not when supposedly adult BLs treat
>other BLs worse than the trolls do. Not when BLs deliberately incite
>the trolls to attack us. Not when BLs challenge the identities of young
>posters, and deny they are young. Should we encourage children to post
>here with all they would have to endure for it? No! I would not want
>children to post or even visit this den of self imposed antagonistic
>misery as the Fort has become.
>
>Yes I said "self imposed". We allow these things to happen by not
>expressing our disapproval of them. Some of us even encourage it. We
>now have the Fort we have built by our own actions and inactions. We
>have only ourselves to blame for it. Therefore, the target for our
>complaints for this sorry state of affairs, is us.
>
>There are different kinds of posts and posters who make up this
>newsgroup. The file posts; pictures, movies, and music, attract
>downloaders. The text posts attract the people who form the community,
>who make the Fort what it really is. There are people who don't
>understand this, and work to destroy discussions in favor of sterile
>file posting, with selfish petty bickering and deliberate provocations,
>purely for their own sport. Why? Because they can, and this petty power
>to disrupt feeds their even more petty egos, and they don't care the
>slightest about the consequences. Then they have the temerity to
>complain that the Fort isn't as good as it was, as they survey the
>damage they themselves have caused.
>
>More and more we here are watched by the world, as our newsgroups
>become more infamous to the public. What do we want them to understand
>about us? That we can't even get along with our own kind, so we must be
>even more dangerous to their children, which we are not? Here we have
>the opportunity to show the public, and particularly the children who
>visit us, ourselves at our best. Instead we are showing them our worst.
>We owe it to all BLs to do better.
>
>Will this change? Not if we let it stay as it is. At present, I see
>only one poster who is trying to support the Fort society; Ronin. He is
>encouraging positive dialog in his own unique way. Don't let him be
>alone.
>
>I'm Awake. Will the Fort?
>
>PS This post is comprised of general comments that, with the exception
>of the last paragraph, I have not applied to any particular individual.
>However, if any reader should see in my comments some ill-looking
>footwear in their size, I suggest he consider a replacement with
>something better. I could make myself available, on request, to assist
>in the selection and fitting.
To answer Sad first:
The Fort will always be The Fort. There will never be anything else
like it. Awake is correct in saying that our society is what we make
it (which is more or less what he meant). Sad, you can help by playing
in The Fort. Your contribution can be to be a part of what happens
here actively. Letting other posters know that you care, as you did by
posting your original message, helps a great deal. You are an
important part of The Fort. It's nice to know you're here.
To Awake:
There are boys here in The Fort and I enjoyed playing with them this
summer when some were active. You're right, Ronin is doing an
excellent job of supporting Fort Society, as are Mephi and Cosmos. I
contribute as I can when I can. Everyone who posts in any way can
contribute and participate. As you pointed out, the text posters give
The Fort it's personality.
Elsewhere in usenet, as here in The Fort, the pictures and movies have
dried up. The Fort is one of the only regularly active groups. I see a
growing sense of anxiety among those who crave the downloadable
material that used to be so abundant. I get e-mails almost every day
from guys looking for ANY material. Our BL brothers are getting more
frantic each day. I see them begging for lists of active newsgroups,
but there aren't any. As they become more desperate they will begin to
take chances, like visiting some of the websites listed by another
poster recently. Most newbies don't know how to keep themselves safe
when surfing the net, and some of those sites are surely traps. People
are exposing their hard drives to scrutiny on P2P file sharing sites
like E-mule. What happens when they run out of places to find the
materials they desire? I fear they'll turn to real boys. We must not
let that happen.
I believe that the only way we can keep boys and boylovers safe is by
being a resource here in The Fort. We must keep up a dialogue that
newbies and lurkers can read that talks about the dangers of naked
surfing, P2P file sharing and replying to those ads for sexual tourism
in Mexico. We must show our boys how to keep themselves safe from the
temptations boys migrate to and from those who will exploit them.
Pointing fingers, even at ourselves, is not a solution. This is a time
for action. The Fort must and will survive because it is needed. I
look forward to your contributions to our society.
If not YOU, then WHO?
Doc
NP-f31
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