Thank Godalmighty! Free at at last, free at last! All Arden members are free at last!

[Tom Reedy]

Though Arden is still a members-only group, all members are now
unmoderated and can post away with no fear of censorship, so fire
away.

Personally, I believe that the golden days of authorship discussion
are behind us. The general public is not interested, and it appears at
times that the battle is now being waged on the field of Internet blog
and news comment venues by cognitively-impaired people with lots of
time on their hands.

No matter what anti-Strats think, their positions are firmly wedged in
the dustbin of crackpot conspiracy theories, and I feel bad that their
lives are being wasted on a comic-strip power fantasies. There's
really nothing I can do about it, though, but I think--I hope--that I
might have influenced some people not to waste their time pursuing an
outrageous lie.

I enjoyed it all at one time, but for the most part I'm bored because
I've seen 4-5 cycles go by with the same repetitive arguments being
made. What I now enjoy the most is researching esoteric bits of EM
history, such as the biography of Arthur Golding I picked up today.
Authorship conversations are strictly for light entertainment only.

TR

[hj]

Is Arden, then, among the undead?

There exist many, many discussion groups that are effectively dead.
How? They exist largely as archive fodder at Google Groups. Some get
occasional posts. Arden might continue to exist in that capacity even
if the plug were pulled. GG would like to archive all usenet groups
and posts (going back to the 1980s at least, and having several years
ago taken over the Deja News archives). I personally have always
accessed the Forest via Google Groups.

If new people should want to join Arden (maybe because they also are
among the undead), how should they go about it? Should they contact
you? Or Lynne? Who will have such administative authority?

hj

[Tom Reedy]

As one of my last managerial acts I rejected the application of Art
Neuendorffer. Just because all members can post unmoderated doesn't
mean we revoked the charter.

TR

[Lynne]

Not me, HJ. Too busy, although I might consider it if you and one or
two people agree to help out.

Tom, I find your comments about non-Strats appalling. It's comments
like yours that have driven almost every non-Strat away, though this
group was originally designed as a polite forum for Shakespeareans of
all stripes.

[hj]

==> I could do the dishes and vacuum the carpet, if that would help.

[Sidney Lubow]

Please take no offense, but after what was dished out in the
Forest's Sonnets and the vacuum it created, suppose you sit down and
let some fresh air back into the site. That would help.

Look, one more attempt at rationality, the Sonnets mentioned no one
by name except Nature, a Lyon and a Tyger, and a couple of birds, so
let Nature take her course. Showing it double did nothing for
parsing any one of them. Not a one.

Someone was born in the couplet of sonnet 18. In sonnet 19, the
father held up the 'son' for all the world to see just like the Lyon
king did way up high in his land.

Bring Nishidani, maybe he can add some light to the Sonnet
discussion. Or else, tell us where his lair is. We can go there if
he wishes.

Sid Lubow

[Lynne]

Yeah, thanks hj. I'll tell you where I live, and you can come over to
clean up once a week.

[hj]

==> And then you would agree to manage the Forest?