Hi Kane,

You're sort of an enigma, aren't you? I found your post both good and not
so good, but it was all reasonable. Suspecting myself of also being a
rational human being, I decided to respond in kind (I hope). This used to
be an excellent group, a few years back, and I DO notice there are a few
good posts here and there; it just bugs me that the present makeup of the
group over the last few months must keep a substantial number of people
away, especially newbies. I know there are some very good forums, and I do
frequent them, but all in all, I prefer newgroups for manageability and
efficiency - thus, my interest in this one. There aren't many foster parent
ng's out there.
Yes, I am a foster parent; we do ages 12 and up, which turns out
naturally to be mostly 14-16 year olds. We also look for all the
Emergency/Respite care we can get, just because they provide variety,
education, and more rounded experience.
More comments inline. If you use search, look for "=== "; it's a
programmable keyboard:

wrote in message
oups.com...
....
Do you REALLY think
anyone has any real interest in this group anymore?

Yep. If one is patient and the asses are sufficiently exposed now and
them some hopeful lurker pops out, Pop.
=== I'm glad to hear that, really. Such a comment's enough to make me stop
by more often, just to see how things are; maybe even add a comment or two
here and there if I feel qualified.


And they can always watch the action, of which there would have to be
some to watch, and private post to whoever they think would be most
helpful.
=== What do you mean by private post? I don't think this group provides
such a function? Or do you simply mean to address them directly and go
off-group if it's appropriate. Personally, I don't approve of going
off-group in most cases since it deprives the rest of the group of seeing
possibly very important answers or things they hadn't thought of.


My concern is less for making earth shattering changes to the system
and more for some of us being here for parents who come a lookin'.
There's that kind of successful talent here the ****ants try to
coverup...because they are such losers and he is a consistent winner.
Many times over.
=== You must be some sort of an oldtimer here, eh? I like your attitude
and that's interesting enough to bring me back more often. I'm always open
to new resources and if this is one, I'll increase my interest to see if
I've been wrong in my assessment. Actually, your post is exactly the sort
of thing I was hoping would happen: Someone in touch with reality and the
goals of the group's purpose.

If the "newsgroup" can't survive this then let it go away by its own
weight. Prophecies of doom aren't really anything but more loser talk.
=== Agreed, but, groups such as this one are importnat, IMO, because there
aren't many of them. I recall when I was first getting into FPing and
looking for data. I could google millions of hits, but 99% of them were no
good or were extremist or otherwise unusable.

I just drop by now and then to see who's doing what and it's always
the
same - never anything OT.
=== I mis-spoke or something there; that makes no sense.

If you think it's not OT then you aren't reading enough, or with
sufficient comprehension. There is litte going on that isn't ON TOPIC
these days. A dis**** sock or troll or two isn't anything to give
credence to. Most groups gottem, even the "informational" one's you
claim you are on your way to.
=== Well, I sure don't see much that's ON topic, but then I do admit that
since I'm not here often, I see the whole gaggle of lots of posts all at
once. Other than learning who might be a "real" poster, it's pretty hard to
tell who's who unless it's a WexWimpy, who seems to use this for his own
news blog. I've looked at several of those posts and there's nothing in
them that isn't pulled from some news event or release somewhere. I may
have had the Wex... thing in mind when I said those things, not sure now.
Yeah, I know it'd be easy enough to killfile, but I don't believe in
killfiles because they mask problems one should be aware of. IMO, at least.

If ever anyone with half a brain steps in here
and decides to throw out the garbage, I'll gtive them a hand cleaning
up,
but until then it's not worth it.

I believe on my last dental x-ray certain angles showed that in fact I
have a complete brain, while back some years ago when I had a swollen
passageway for the nerve from the ear it was noticed that I have an
unusually large brain in certain portions.
=== LOL! Does that mean you have -other- large organs, too?

Now on to some more informational groups.

Naw. That's either the whine of a loser, or the BS of a troll.
=== You really should think more before you pull out the troll weapon. I
WILL respond to flames in kind, if it interests me at all, but I will never
initiate anything of the sort. If that's how you feel, then so be it; your
opinions aren't very important to me, which is as it should be, and
vice-versa.
FYI, where I went, though it's none of your business, appears from the
logs to have been:
spamcop.net, alt.msdos., als.dos.batch, home repair, and
alt.social-security.disability. Oh, and alt.home.pc.security.
If you consider those to be BS, then I feel sorry for you and have
nothing else to say. Even if I was going to alt.****.**** (made up, not
real I don't think), it'd still be possible for it to be informative, not
BS. Like porno, it's in the eye/mind of the beholder. I have a total of
about twenty groups I frequent, and about 8 that I actively participate in
w/r to giving helpful answers. Mostly I lurk, looking for things I didn't
know, and if I see a post that's been ignored, probably because no one has a
good response, I'll try to at least give that OP a lead to where he might
get more leads.

--
Let someone else do it

Yes, we will.
=== Yes, I bet you will, too. Don't be a stepping stone; stick up for
yourslef and your beliefs. It's looking like you decided to turn
counter-troll here toward the end, eh? Enigma comes to mind, esp when I
consider some of the other posts of yours that I have read.

I'm retired!

Sure, you are. Tah.

=== Yes, I am, arsehole. It's NOYB, but I'm "retired" for health reasons,
on disability, and I'd give my left arm to be able to go back to work. I'm
59 and housebound; so the internet's a part of my new life's goals to give
back to the world some of the good it's given to me.
I won't go further into that because I'm not looking for sympathy; hate
that. But I AM looking for decent people who want to help others and who
accept others into the effort.

It's no skin off my arse whether you care or not, or what any of your
opinions are; I don't kn ow you from Adam, but I do thank you for the chance
to spend a few minutes doing something interesting. Perhaps some other
decent people will also read this and come out of lurking for a comment or
two, and show the true culture of this newsgroup, not just the slums part of
the community.

Regards,

Pop