Everyone -

Very thoughtful responses to the issue, and all are appreciated. Doug contacted me and asked me to not do anything to the forum in terms of deleting it, and the vote was perfectly clear.

I'd like to point out that more than a few of you made the connection between this site and the Equipped to Survive foundation - I think that this is an important thing to remember - there's a non-profit organization at the heart of this site and that organization's mission can be furthered or hindered by the subject matter and tone of discussion here in these very public forums.

As I like to remind people, Google indexes this site about every 90 seconds. Here's how to tell.

At 7:00 AM, March 23rd, while I was writing this post, searching Google for xptrrtiddfggeeww
- a string of random gibber - yielded no results. By the time you read this, a few minutes or hours from now, that gibberish will be in the Google index. Within a day or so it will be visible to the public. This site is closely monitored and generates a LOT of looker traffic as well as participants.

So when I see a post about something as simple as rainwater collection management, I expect a discussion of capture and distribution techniques, tried and true methods, innovative new thinking and so forth. I don't expect a discussion of Colorado laws on rainwater collection. If you don't see the difference, then you don't understand what this forum is all about. Similarly the inevitable gun discussions. It is possible to have a neutral discussion about guns. Really, it is. As long as you're discussion centers on the mechanical aspects of a gun, and never drifts from that central thesis, it's going to go fine.
Gardening topics? Almost the same as guns. Talk about the garden, not why you're making a garden. Ask about keeping the rabbits out, ask about what's good and easy to grow where and when. Don't bring economic Armageddon into it. We don't need that here.

So, the forum lives and I step aside to let it grow and flourish, and, to carry the gardening metaphor, I will be vigilant in the removal of noxious weeds that crop up in our idea garden.

That is all.

Martin Focazio
Your Cruise Director