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Thanks, Andy.

I've been thinking of spending a lot less time online anyway, in the overall sense, so this isn't a bad thing.

It looks like your twin prognostications came true, so maybe you happen to be gifted in that sense;-)--and hopefully too I may have accomplished a few good things in my brief tenure as moderator of this forum.

At any rate, after this experience, I KNOW I'll never run for public office of any kind (not that I had ever really considered it). It has given me a much better perspective on the kind of BS our elected officials have to absorb on a regular basis. So those who hold little besides scorn for those in public office, might try considering that politicians must deal with packs of yelping, partisan rabid attack-hyenas on a near-daily basis. What a life that must be.

To those that are partisan to the point of being blind to all else: that sort of attitude is a large and real part of the problem in this country. Solutions don't come from bashing the opposing side; they come from seeking real solutions. Real solutions require real analysis. Real analysis requires NOT just towing a party line, whether it be Democrat, Republican or even Libertarian. So try taking off those blinders sometimes, and putting your rage and injury on the back burner for a while, and try looking at things from a fresh perspective on occasion.

To those who I had words or differences with: nothing personal. Sometimes all parties in a disagreement must simply acknowledge that a stalemate has occurred and that neither is going to change the other's mind.

This forum has great potential and has at times produced keen insights, valuable information, and excellent discussions of history--and touches of humor. Let's all try to focus on those things with an eye to the future, and leave the negatives and the BS in the trash where they belong.

Thanks to my supporters, and even to my detractors, because I have learned from you both--and to everyone else on this board. The day we stop learning is the day we start dying intellectually and spiritually, and there is probably nobody on this forum from whom we cannot learn something.