I don't know how long this thread will survive...

[Ryedan]

I read a few of those sub-forums fairly regularly to stay informed. I rarely get involved by posting because IMO the conversations generally get too political, dogmatic and emotional to be productive.

I would make a lousy politician

 

[DC2]

I would make a lousy politician

As far as I can tell, you have both a brain and a heart.
This disqualifies you to be a politician.

 

[FlamingoTutu]

I never read that sub forum but I'm going to take a look at it now. I should look around this forum more, but there's so much of it. And so many shopping sites to visit as well.

As far as participating in the fight goes, there are a lot of different ways to do that. Right now all I do is talk to people one on one. You talked above about the infighting. That's part of the reason I stay out of organized action, in general not just around vaping. Organisation has to be a part of it though if we are going to win.

But I don't have much patience for the messy stuff these days. All that "you're an idiot, where's the proof, I gave you proof, no you didn't, your proof is stupid, only a ****** would fall for that". Some people are good at dealing with it and know how to extract positive outcomes from all the energy. I should probably make an effort to be supportive. I do owe a lot to the world of vaping. Right now I'm sitting back and letting other people do the heavy lifting for me.

OK, you succeeded in guilting me out. Hope you're happy.

I didn’t come to ECF to become an activist either. Heck, all I wanted to do was quit smoking. Last year some politician wanted to ban mail order vape stuff in California. Then it got brought down to having to have online age verification and signing for the package (for which you had to be 21 since there was no 18-year-old verification available). If you live in the middle of nowhere, your mailbox is a PO Box and you can’t get there during business hours, you’re poop out of luck.

My assemblyman belongs to the other party and we agree on little. Since I’d opened my big mouth and said I’d write him, I did. Knock me over with a feather, he’s the one that effectively shot down AB 1500 in its tracks and pretty much for the reason I wrote him about. I’m still stunned. You can make a difference, just not all the time.

 

[FlamingoTutu]

It is a very strongly opinionated area, and I hope I haven't contributed to ruining that environment.
But I suspect, in moments of weakness, I have done so myself.

But it's such an important subforum for all of us.
I hope we can get to a point of mutual consent as to what we are ALL trying to do together, not apart.

Ahem, yeah, like you've never jumped my

 

[DC2]

Ahem, yeah, like you've never jumped my

Oh, come on now Flamingo... you know I love you!!

 

[GinnyTx]

read it..and my granny taught me to never argue with fence posts.

it's a waste of my time and energy.

 

[FlamingoTutu]

Generally speaking though this forum is an oasis of calm compared to the web in general. The forum bosses do a great job of keeping the trolls at bay. Just read the comments sections on some of the youtube videos. But if moderation is taken too far it sucks the juice out of the discussion and all you have left is a handful of people being nice to each other.

For something as intrinsically controversial as vaping I think the Mods have done an amazing job. Congrats people.

Agreed! Another round of for the mods, like they really need it.

This forum wouldn't be what it is without them.

Oh, come on now Flamingo... you know I love you!!

Yes, I do. And I love you too, it's the only reason I haven't booby trapped your chair.

 

[DC2]

Yes, I do. And I love you too, it's the only reason I haven't booby trapped your chair.

Oh great, so now I have to check my chair every morning?

 

[chargingcharlie]

To be honest, I stay out of it mainly because I'm so tired of all the begging and campaigning to our government, that we seem to have to do, to have the right to do anything these days. I'm into firearms and I was very involved with monitoring what was going on at the federal and state levels on a daily basis. I donated money, I called and emailed people in office, and I never received anything but canned responses from them. Over the last few years I also got highly involved with RC aircraft: airplanes, helicopters, and multi-rotors (the media loves to call those "drones"). Over the past year, the government has started to ruin that hobby for us as well. They've basically thrown away an agreement that has been in place for decades, limited where we can fly, and made it a crime for us to use them for aerial photography and any other commercial applications while they figure out the best way to tax us and make it as expensive as possible for someone to start a small business around them. Then I start vaping and I see they are doing the same thing here. Simply stated...I just don't give a damn anymore. Our government does what it wants, when it wants, and they don't give a rats (you know what) about how we feel about it. I'm just tired of paying, donating, and being blackmailed for the opportunity to have the right to do what I want.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chargingcharlie]

Agreed! Another round of for the mods, like they really need it.

This forum wouldn't be what it is without them.

Agreed. The general friendliness I see here is incredible. I used to be extremely active over a rcgroups.com but they have what they call "an extensive list of rules" that are written in a way where people can scam other in the classifieds (and get away with it), while others antagonize members to the point where they break a rule by saying something offensive. I saw a lot of good people either leave, or get banned, while the amount of trolls grew at a rapid rate. It was so bad that I cleared out every post in my name and then told them to close my account.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[classwife]

DC you been into the drama bottle today ?

I am soooo closing this thread...KIDDING !!!


On a serious note tho...I think it's simply that most have no idea of what is going on...and part of those that do know, don't understand the importance.

ECF is pretty big and most people just want their questions answered or to discuss what they have...they don't spend the time looking around at what is here at their fingertips.

As far as participating...if you don't buy a lotto ticket, you have no chance of winning.

 

[WattWick]

Agreed. The general friendliness I see here is incredible. I used to be extremely active over a rcgroups.com but they have what they call "an extensive list of rules" that are written in a way where people can scam other in the classifieds (and get away with it), while others antagonize members to the point where they break a rule by saying something offensive. I saw a lot of good people either leave, or get banned, while the amount of trolls grew at a rapid rate. It was so bad that I cleared out every post in my name and then told them to close my account.

Not to stray too far off topic... Helifreak has a very nice and friendly environment much like this. At least that's the my experience from the subsections I visit. I think there's something about a passion-based hobby where the entry fee is eating a few bites of humble pie. Both in vaping and flying helis one risks some crashing and burning along the way. Also worth noting: On both forums it's the brand vs brand topics that gets heated. And talk about safety and legislations.

And indeed. One for the admins

 

[DC2]

As far as participating...if you don't buy a lotto ticket, you have no chance of winning.

I try to remember to by one lottery ticket every now and then.

I figure I don't need to buy more than one though.
If God wanted me to win, I would only need one.

 

[chargingcharlie]

Not to stray too far off topic... Helifreak has a very nice and friendly environment much like this. At least that's the my experience from the subsections I visit. I think there's something about a passion-based hobby where the entry fee is eating a few bites of humble pie. Both in vaping and flying helis one risks some crashing and burning along the way. Also worth noting: On both forums it's the brand vs brand topics that gets heated. And talk about safety and legislations.

And indeed. One for the admins

I'm a member over there under a different username but have been a little less active lately. I forgot that they have a vaping section...I'll have to check that out. They've had a little drama, but nothing even close to rcgroups.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[FlamingoTutu]

To be honest, I stay out of it mainly because I'm so tired of all the begging and campaigning to our government, that we seem to have to do, to have the right to do anything these days. I'm into firearms and I was very involved with monitoring what was going on at the federal and state levels on a daily basis. I donated money, I called and emailed people in office, and I never received anything but canned responses from them. Over the last few years I also got highly involved with RC aircraft: airplanes, helicopters, and multi-rotors (the media loves to call those "drones"). Over the past year, the government has started to ruin that hobby for us as well. They've basically thrown away an agreement that has been in place for decades, limited where we can fly, and made it a crime for us to use them for aerial photography and any other commercial applications while they figure out the best way to tax us and make it as expensive as possible for someone to start a small business around them. Then I start vaping and I see they are doing the same thing here. Simply stated...I just don't give a damn anymore. Our government does what it wants, when it wants, and they don't give a rats (you know what) about how we feel about it. I'm just tired of paying, donating, and being blackmailed for the opportunity to have the right to do what I want.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Bravo for getting involved. I completely get not wanting to get involved again, but I'll wager you do eventually. I can only imagine how many emails you get from politicians. Last I wrote one, I started getting emails from four.

 

[tj99959]

I check it daily, but normally have nothing constructive to add. So I check to see what the bad news is today (depressing), and let it go at that. Most everything there gets repeated about 50 times on FaseBook anyway.

 

[chargingcharlie]

Bravo for getting involved. I completely get not wanting to get involved again, but I'll wager you do eventually. I can only imagine how many emails you get from politicians. Last I wrote one, I started getting emails from four.

It's just so depressing to read. Especially since the news on TV would rather tell the public about Justin Beiber getting a DUI, or about how Kim Kardasian's .... looks in an outfit, rather than how our government is constantly trying to tax us every way possible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Lessifer]

I read and "Like" there often, and I take what I see there and participate in CTA's or share stuff with my friends and family. I post occasionally too but most of it is just sharing in the outrage, I try to ignore the infighting. I don't express it often, but I'm a liberal democrat from CA, so most of the jabs are pointed in my general direction, though none of them seem to ever actually apply to me.

Those posts being active is a double edged sword. If they're active, they show up in the New Posts list more often, but usually when they're active, it's because people are arguing over details.

 

[AndriaD]

read it..and my granny taught me to never argue with fence posts.

it's a waste of my time and energy.

I might argue with a fence post... but I refuse to have a battle of wits with the unarmed. Or try to teach a pig to sing -- waste of time, and it really annoys the pig.

I read threads in that forum when I find them in the "Today's Posts" lists; sometimes I may have something to contribute to the discussion, many times I don't, but I might Tweet it.

And if a CTA is something I can actually do, I'm all over it -- just don't expect me to make phone calls; I have a hard time doing that for my own personal business; calling up strangers and haranguing them is not in my skillset. Just listening to the hold MUZAK makes me want to commit suicide. Or maybe homicide.

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

It's just so depressing to read. Especially since the news on TV would rather tell the public about Justin Beiber getting a DUI, or about how Kim Kardasian's .... looks in an outfit, rather than how our government is constantly trying to tax us every way possible.

Like her spine is surgically attached to a pumpkin? (a really BIG pumpkin!)

The news on TV is a joke. They ought to just call it what it is, "filler for the advertisers".

Andria