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#1 johnfwd

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Posted 30 August 2016 - 06:14 AM

Back in the grand ole days when scribes reverently adhered to the adage, "the pen is mightier than the sword," the influential swayed public opinion through op-eds in the New York Times while the local activists penned letters to the editor of their local trib.  The hotheads and dunderheads were relegated (rightly so) to mouthing inanities over too much beer in saloon bars.  Most of us were proud of intellectualism, even if it eked elitism.

 

Today, the common man is a would-be scribe, what with Facebook, Twitter, posting at various news media websites, blogging, and everything else on the Internet.  That would be fine, provided the pen is still mightier than the sword.  Sadly, the new adage has become, "the finger is mightier than the mind."

 

I stopped posting at the news media websites long ago because the hotheads and dunderheads came out of the saloon bars and decided to become scribes.  If  you happen to see a political article on CBSnews.com that has 15,200 comments, don't think it's because 15,200 intellectuals are soberly sharing opinions.

 

Please don't conclude this sounds like elitist snobbery.  I've always been respectful of soap-box soliloquies, whether its a forum in central park or the nearest tavern.  Even a dumb-reading letter to the editor is Freedom of Speech.  But, we all know that, in the age of the World Wide Web, free speech has become unfettered to the extent that it has often become nauseous.  Today it's too easy to vent an opinion, and everyone seems to be doing it, many without much forethought.

 

An exception is this Forum.  That's because it is restricted to people who care about architecture, about Fort Worth, about the quality of living.  Most of us think before we post here, and I for one use the edit or delete options when I think I've gone too far.  And it's properly moderated, so that any of us who feel like being hot-headed or dunderheaded in our scribing will think twice before posting.



#2 M C Toyer

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Posted 30 August 2016 - 06:33 AM

Well said John.  My thanks for maintaining this forum to its high standards.

 

Although I seldom post and my interest is rather narrow (Local History) I do check in often just to keep abreast of current development and events.

 

M C Toyer



#3 John T Roberts

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Posted 30 August 2016 - 09:40 PM

I appreciate the comments.  I try to maintain a good range of viewpoints.  I hope that I have done a good job in hosting this forum.  It has been a great pleasure to do it.  I appreciate all of the posts, contributions, and comments.



#4 John T Roberts

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Posted 11 September 2016 - 10:48 AM

I finally got the forum back up and running!  I apologize for taking so long, but I had some evening engagements that I had to attend when the forum went down.  This was followed by computer problems at home, and finally I had the chance this weekend to try to get the forum fixed.  I hope everyone continues to post and I hope that no one was inconvenienced for too long.

 

Now, I need to clean the house and bathe the dogs.



#5 Not Sure

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Posted 11 September 2016 - 01:46 PM

I didn't realize how frequently I check in until the forum went down. I was surprised and relieved to see it working again today. Thanks for your efforts in keeping this place going.

#6 Dylan

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Posted 11 September 2016 - 04:36 PM

When the server of a NASCAR forum I frequently visit crashed earlier this year, we lost a year's worth of posts because the most recent backup of that forum was a year old.

 

Because of that incident, I'm very happy to see none of our posts on this forum are missing.

 

Thanks for getting this forum up and running, John!


-Dylan


#7 John T Roberts

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Posted 11 September 2016 - 07:15 PM

It's time for me to back things up, as well.  I'm just glad that nothing was lost.



#8 GenE

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Posted 11 September 2016 - 08:54 PM

Thanks for all your hard work.  The Forum was missed.



#9 John T Roberts

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Posted 12 September 2016 - 09:00 AM

You are welcome, GenE.  I love maintaining the site and the forum.  I'm glad it was missed, but I'm also glad that I have it back up and running.  I hope that it wasn't down long enough to cause anyone any inconvenience.



#10 hipolyte

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 09:44 AM

Glad to see you back! Thanks, John, for all you do for the city! It was good to see you the other night.



#11 John T Roberts

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Posted 06 October 2016 - 06:15 PM

Thanks, Hipolyte.  I apologize for taking so long to post here.  It was also good to see you again.



#12 johnfwd

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Posted 19 February 2020 - 07:58 AM

Just a thought here about how much factual research we have to do to sound credible in the forum.  As many of you know from reading my posts, most of what I write is based on anecdotal, non-empirical, evidence.  A lot of times I make what I think is an educated guess about something or other and, invariably, I am called to task for a mistaken belief or inaccurate factual statement.  .

 

So be it.  I'm a lawyer by profession and I spend a lot of my time doing indepth case research that is far more than an "educated guess."  Otherwise, I am taken to task by opposing counsel, a judge, or even a client.  Before that I was a newspaper reporter and everyone knows we're not supposed to write about "fake news."

 

Why do I bring up my background?  Because I like this forum to vent ideas and make observations in a less-factually demanding, more relaxed, arena.  Or at least I hope it's less factually demanding and given to more relaxed expression.  That being said, I do research some of what I post here.  But for the other occasions, please forgive me if I make factual errors from time to time.



#13 Volare

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Posted 19 February 2020 - 08:37 AM

It's not a peer reviewed paper - It's a online forum without any real names.

 

Lots of opinions, lots of anecdotes.

 

Everyone have fun, and try to be kind to one another.



#14 JBB

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Posted 19 February 2020 - 09:51 AM

I think we should be measured with what we say here because, as John has pointed out, you never know who is reading.  But, what Volare ^said^.  It's hardly published academic work.  I try to substantiate most of what I post, but I know plenty of anecdotes and maybe just a tiny bit of BS make it through from time to time.



#15 txbornviking

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Posted 19 February 2020 - 12:23 PM

And to piggyback on this, I think most of us are actually intellectually curious about urban issues and development issues. We may not have the time and luxury to be fully academic in our research but we are open to reading others opinions AND quite often folks in the forum bring the facts and proof to back their opinions by l inking outside reading. Something I always enjoy



#16 johnfwd

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Posted 21 February 2020 - 11:29 AM

I also applaud those here, such as Austin, who take the trouble to perform research and post elaborate charts, etc.  



#17 Austin55

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Posted 21 February 2020 - 11:41 AM

I also applaud those here, such as Austin, who take the trouble to perform research and post elaborate charts, etc.  

 

Hey thanks!

 

The forum really is a tremendous place and I thank you all. It's helped me make friends, explore my interests, and even charted my career. 

Crazy to think that I joined 12 years ago. I was 15 when I did so, in some ways I've grown up on the forum. 



#18 renamerusk

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Posted 23 February 2020 - 02:52 PM

I personally want to thank all of the members who have shown such a degree of tolerance towards others and especially towards me as we practice the art of engagement about our ideas and thoughts.

 

I, myself, frequently make sloppy grammatical mistakes when attempting in the moment to discharge my flow of conscientiousness; and  in spite of it,  my rush to comment receives great feedback. 

 

I am most appreciative of the constant flow of ideas that are regularly posted throughout the Forum. :)



#19 John T Roberts

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Posted 23 February 2020 - 03:07 PM

Yes Austin, you have grown up here on the forum.  I'm glad that you have stayed with us.

 

Rename, you are welcome.  I think we all try to maintain a level for tolerance of all opinions.



#20 Doohickie

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Posted 24 February 2020 - 08:53 AM

I personally want to thank all of the members who have shown such a degree of tolerance towards others and especially towards me as we practice the art of engagement about our ideas and thoughts.

 

I, myself, frequently make sloppy grammatical mistakes when attempting in the moment to discharge my flow of conscientiousness; and  in spite of it,  my rush to comment receives great feedback. 

 

I am most appreciative of the constant flow of ideas that are regularly posted throughout the Forum. :)

 

I have to admit that there was a time when I had you on ignore.

 

I never doubted your sincerity, and I often agree with what you post.  But there have been times where I felt you couldn't be more wrong.  I've learned to accept the disagreement when it occurs and either think carefully about responding, or choose not to respond at all.  I think we're both kind of opinionated and when you're "wrong" (i.e,, disagree with me), I know I'm not going to change your mind.  :)


My blog: Doohickie

#21 renamerusk

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Posted 24 February 2020 - 09:40 AM

.....I never doubted your sincerity....... I know I'm not going to change your mind.  :)

 

 

 Thank you for saying that.

 

I admit that my mind can seem impenetrable, but it can be softened.  I can also admit that there have been a few successful interventions a time or two from you; and from some others which then allowed me to see something in a different light.

 

The results from these spirited engagements have been that The Forum has evolved into one of the best open venue

in town for measuring the temperature of all matters about Fort Worth; and that is what I love the most about our Forum.
 



#22 johnfwd

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Posted 26 February 2020 - 07:14 AM

Starting with Internet chatrooms (circa 1989), then the comment sections of online news media, then the inception of "blogs" and Facebook, Twitter, etc., this Forum is still viable.  I believe it has a Facebook page but I usually stick with this website.  Group member discussion is very democratic and it's now in plentiful supply, what with new groups being added to Facebook almost every day.

 

The major drawback is that we might be listening more to ourselves than to the news media journalists (as I was once), who are supposed to be factual non-partisan reporters.  I don't mean that in too negative a sense because I contribute here mostly in an anecdotal non-factual manner.



#23 roverone

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Posted 26 February 2020 - 08:55 AM

I know we are all very busy; but something that I think might add an additional dimension to the forum would be from time to time to pick a specific narrow aspect of information that we agree we are interested in, think through some hypotheses we want to understand, and then forum members scatter off to collect data, and talk about how we might analyze the data.

 

Of course, we do this all the time here, but we tend to be driven by individuals with a priori opinions and trying to support them, rather than trying to remain neutral and as a group discuss what types of results would help us form opinions and work through the data to see how it meets our criteria for the opinion.

 

I was going to give an example, but I think it is better to let everyone think for a while on the questions that they might wan an answer to without any bias.



#24 renamerusk

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Posted 26 February 2020 - 09:14 AM

To be frank, I don't see a need for narrowing the potential of topics or a need to remain neutral as that is antithetical to the meaning of forum. I would go as far as to say that people who are consistently neutral and undecided are usually the least interesting people to be around.

 

Consider the definition of a forum: a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.   

 

From its inception, The FWF was divided into a group of subject areas where comments can be posted and read.  It is opened to anyone regardless of their expertise and is predicated upon allowing anyone who wishes to do so  an opportunity to express or share a viewpoint

 

The dependency upon common wisdom and general knowledge is as vital to this forum as is the collection of data that can be created also with a bias and they each have an essential role.  As a member for many years, I believe that the suggestion in the nature of post#23 would be a death nail to the continuing and vigorous success of the FWF.

 

"I vote nay".



#25 roverone

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Posted 26 February 2020 - 01:34 PM

I think you just enjoy disagreeing way, way too much.

 

Doing something like this would not remove any privileges to post all you want.

 

What was on my mind was to be able to collaborate on collecting and analyzing data, like make our own group research projects and "publish" those results here, since we think (know) that influencers read things here.



#26 renamerusk

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Posted 26 February 2020 - 01:59 PM

I think you just enjoy disagreeing way, way too much.

 

Doing something like this would not remove any privileges to post all you want.

 

What was on my mind was to be able to collaborate on collecting and analyzing data, like make our own group research projects and "publish" those results here, since we think (know) that influencers read things here.

 

 Dressing down someone in this way is sad.

 

The question that rose immediately to mind was how would the collaboration be actualized. 

 

I agree with the more recent comments that we are not professionals and scholars, but that our contributions flow from our experiences and conscientiousness of any issue. It may take some sorting through, but in general ideas do get heard and vetted. If there are people who read the Forum, it may be because it is seen as having value as a source of unfiltered comments, bias or unbias; and who then can make a their own judgements.

 

I disagree with most of the politics of a good friend and colleague; but we both agree that our disagreements make for a stronger friendship and we always look forward to engaging one another.  The Forum is a medium for engagement and if thinking disagreement is the problem, perhaps we should become the Fort Worth Cult where we think alike and talk alike. 
 



#27 johnfwd

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 05:57 AM

Obvious observation...since March discussion on the Forum has been pre-occupied with the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.  I hope we can get back to talking about new economic development, whether residential or commercial.  That also depends, of course, on whether the economy improves to the extent that businesses re-open or relocate here and the extent to which builders can afford new projects in Fort Worth and its environs.  Frankly speaking, and stated good-naturedly, I'm tired of writing in the Quarantine thread. 



#28 John T Roberts

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 07:43 AM

I think things will drift back to things going on in the city.  There have been a few discussions on projects and construction.  I will also admit that since we have been under restrictions, the number of my activities has gone down.  I have not taken any photographs since the end of February.  Also, City Boards and Commission meetings have been very limited, so fewer projects are being seen in the public eye.  If nothing changes, we can always go back to discussing existing buildings, and architecture in general.  Recently, so many new items in various archives have been added to public websites.  Because of these new resources being made available, a great deal of Fort Worth's history can now be easily researched.  As I am updating the building pages, I am now using the Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives as verification on what has happened, rather than relying on my memory. 



#29 JBB

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 08:07 AM

I frequent two other message boards (different topics from here) and their discussions have similarly been centered on the quarantine.  We have definitely been quicker to return to more normal discussion that either of those.  Like John said, the virus and the quarantine were really just about the only current events happening.  TV news programming reflects that as well.






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