[quote] Besides all this stuff, I like to write and I do it for enjoyment and because I believe in what I write about, go figure. That about does it for [/quote

]I enjoyed your post and you have rightly said that you write as you enjoy it. I too am in real life a person who has to research, teach, correct tonnes of assignments etc but I always find time to blog.

JU is different as I find the bloggers though very conservative and from a US point of view patriotic, they do engage in debate and never really resort to "delete" and "blacklist" button. I must say in the years that I have been blogging on this site, I have learned a good deal and as I have said I disagree with many but they have and I have respected the right of expression.

It's amazing, even Bahu gets it and he's not even in the US. He understands that many of the members of this site tend to lean Conservative when it comes to the topics of his articles and most hardly ever agree with him yet he writes, he posts, he debates and then he moves on and not once have I personally seen him loose his cool like you do BT. I may not always agree with Bahu, but I respect his writings and his opinions and all I want is to debate them unless I find them ridiculous and then I simply point out how I feel about the topic but in the end it's his opinion, but I don't treat him like a child or insult his intelligence like you like doing constantly around here. You can learn a thing or 2 from Bahu.

Bahu Virupaksha – Well said. But just because most are conservative, well what does that have to do with civility and discourse. This is what I find so strange. For more years than I like, I was one of those neocons. I bought the Bush lie as did most … initially. So when I finally dealt with a religious problem I was having … I decided to determine as much of the truth as I could for myself. I finally grew a humanistic conscience and decided that Bush and Co. lied to us and began this unending war. Because of this, I am considered (herein) as a neolib, go figure. All I know is that when the name calling and similar brouhaha creep in … any possible logical thread becomes a thing of the past.

CharlesCS – Strangest reason for blogging I ever heard of, amazing.

I started here at the urging of my oldest son.  He wrote here under the name of Hyperborean Wanderer.  He wrote about his experiences in Iraq until the chain of command clamped down on blogging because of "security considerations".  He wanted me to write about the stories he heard from me when he was a kid.  I started out that way, a series I called "There I Was...",  then started writing stories about my Dad, the Chief, I called that series, "Tales of the Chief".  It was inevitable that opinion pieces would work their way into the mix and some other views and news-inspired rants.

In the couple of years that I have posted here I have had more than a few disagreements,  have been called some silly names and some not-so-nice names, had my creds questioned, my ideas challenged, I have even written a couple of angry rants in response.  But this unique method of expression offers anonimity, privacy, and an open forum free from physical threat.  I try to stay controlled, open-minded, even-handed, and positive...emphasis on "try"...it ain't always easy.  Anyhow...that's why.

I came here in 2004, I think, after Brad Wardell told me I should start a blog on his site.

Since then I have been occasionally a regular, occasionally scarce, but always well-known.

I post to JU because of the wide audience, the people who comment here, and the simple fact that I posted here before.

My favourite subjects are the middle-east, socialism, religion and science. I really like history but never found an opportunity here to discuss the subject much.

What I have a difficult time with here on JU is all the personal attacks instead of actual defense arguments. If the debate is whether or not the grass is green or red … stupidity (or colorblindness) is appropriate. But if the discussion is about whether or not a war is being fought for just or unjust reasons, there is no place here for personal attacks. There is just a difference in opinions is all. The only sense I can make out of this ploy, is an inability to actually defend their positions or they have a complete lack of respect and decency in regards to others. Doesn’t make any sense to me is all.