<sigh>
Okay, so who wants to talk about sex, alcohol, and/or religion?
Guys, I think you're ALL right. Again.
We really don't want to make b77 just a big anti-TORC bitch session. We don't want to be "seen", rightly or wrongly, as having these big secret dark meetings where we all wear funny hats (decorated with that weird bug symbol of TORC's with a circle and slash on it, maybe), burning smelly fires where we pitch in our TORC pins, and chanting "Down with TORC! Down with Those whose Toes the Toads have Licked!"
As it turns out, we don't do much of that
right now. We have a perfectly good thread to vent in about all our TORC issues, and I'm not sure the last time I saw it bumped. I think we
are collectively healing; even here on our "closed and safe" <yea, right> board, the level of pain has diminished amazingly.
The fact is, whatever we said about TORC in the past was "open". As we well know, the juicier facts got out, very quickly, carefully edited to remove any pesky "context" which might have mitigated the impact, and were sent directly to the ears of those who would be the most wounded by them. All from our "closed and safe" <yea, right> board.
Anything we say in Turf, or in a VERY slightly private "Members' Lounge", or hell, even in emails, can be copied, pasted, and sent to a dozen people in a New York minute. I think we all know that.
So the talk of TORC, in whatever level of intensity, in whichever thread/fora/etc., is rather a moot point and should not even be considered when discussing the Members' Lounge idea. IMHO.
I think the whole idea here is a concern about freedom.
Freedom to be candid with the other members of a board which many of us have come to consider as family.
Freedom to say dumb things if we want to, and to take our lumps if we deserve them, without some mod swooping down to clunk us on the head for having such unholy thoughts.
Freedom to just type away, without wondering how many of our words will be googled forever by people who have no idea who we are, or why we might be feeling the way we do.
Anyone who wants to take the two minutes it would take to register will be joining right in there with us, if they would like. They would have the freedom to take that step. No one is proposing restricting access to the Members' Lounge (unless Ang is?); I would disagree with that idea.
You folks are all wonderful, btw... I am grateful for all the time and effort you have all put into this policy stuff. We are giving birth to this messageboard, and labor is exhausting and seemingly endless whilst one is experiencing it. Strangely, however, all that pain seems worth it when the birth finally takes place. I truly believe we will be glad that we went through all this, someday VERY soon.
P.S. jn, just read the Ranger Babez comments.
Edit: For better grammar