| | Thanks to everyone for the comments, and I'm glad to see so many familiar faces.
Tenya, I share your enthusiasm, and I'm happy to see you express it so well. I think we can do great things, and I'm glad you're on board.
Marvin, thank you as well.
Ross, thanks for the comments. And of course, Paine really knew how to make a passionate, memorable statement.
Mike, glad you like the new look. I don't really have anything in mind for the name of people here. Born again Objectivists is too funny!
Adam, I intend to write more on my conception of activism. For now, I see a countless number of ways of advancing Objectivism. It may be extending or refining the philosophy. It may be training new intellectuals. It may be making it all clearer and easier to practice. It may be building webpages, writing pamphlets and books, or creating other resources (such as this site) to help people make the transition to Objectivist ideas easier. Your own lecturing counts. Starting local clubs is another.
Let me give you just a few examples. Ed Younkins writes articles comparing, contrasting, and drawing parallels between Objectivism and other systems of thought (as well as just doing an objective analysis of the other systems). His articles are a real resource.
Dean Michael Gores is a brilliant web programmer, and volunteered to help out on this site. His work on the new RoR Mail program is just fantastic. And he contributed so much getting this new site up and running. I think he only got a couple hours of sleep last night, staying up working out the last of the details.
Katdaddy cleaned up the Romance page, added photo galleries so people could share their successes with others, has advertised for it, and even started a personals section where people can better find romance. She's also written on other lists about her positive experiences on SoloHQ, and has helped Luke on some of the local club stuff.
I could go on and on. Tibor with his articles. Julian Pistorius and Duncan Bayne for their various activist actions. Julia Brent for stepping up as Director of Operations and working on all the stuff that drives me nuts. The 176 different authors who have contributed here. I can't do justice to everyone.
Each of these people decided to try to improve their world by going out and doing something about it. Activism can take an unlimited number of forms and methods, but the important part is getting up and doing something! We've always had a good number of real activists, but they occasionally get drowned out by the "talkers". I intend to keep the activists in the spotlight on this site.
Ed Hudgins, thanks for being here at the kick off to the new site. You TOC guys are welcome here, and I think we're going to have a much more cordial relationship in the future.
Chris Sciabarra, thanks for the warm wishes. Despite our occasional difference of opinion, you have my utmost respect as an activist. You put some much effort and professionalism into you work.
Luke, thanks for staying on board as the Club Coordinator! We have big plans in the works!
Ed Younkins, I'm very glad to have your participation.
MH, you're back! Good to see you. We don't have plans to remove any of the articles or posts at this point. I may remove some of the more offensive ones at some point, but those wouldn't include yours.
Ethan, thanks. I'm glad to see you here. You stand up for what you believe in, and you're a good friend and ally.
Joe Maurone, great to see you. You're an excellent example of the spirit of activism. Your "Selling Freedom: The Choice of a New Generation?" was an excellent look at the how to approach activism. And your work starting and leading the music forum has been excellent.
I realize the name is not that catchy, although I think it's pretty descriptive. But this is just the start. This website is just one of the many projects we're going to tackle, and shouldn't be viewed as the whole or even the most important. More details soon!
Roger, we actually talked about having some conferences, which might be called RoR conferences, or RoRCs.
Ciro, thanks for the compliments. I also appreciate your activist spirit in taking over the Food leader position and donig such an outstanding job.
Luke again! When a page is edited, you can always (in HTML) type src="/img/whatever.jpg" instead of "http://rebirthofreason.com/img/whatever.jpg". Then it doesn't matter if the domain changes. I'll set things up so you can make modifications, and maybe Dean will have some ideas of doing it all in a more consistent manner.
Matthew Graybosch, thanks for the compliment. Glad to see you participating again recently.
Adam Buker, I hope the new site stays more to your liking.
MSK, thanks for the nice wishes. Let me dispel any rumors that you had anything to do with the shutting down of SoloHQ. While we have plenty of disagreements between us, you don't deserve that kind of blame.
Clarence, I can see where you're coming from. I thought about doing the big reset of members and posts. It would have been a lot of trouble, and I wanted to make it easier to participate here. As for redesigning the site...what?!?!?! You know how long it took to make this?
In reality, the features on this site are useful, even the movie reviews. Part of changing the world is to be able to emphasize our values, and share them amongst each other.
But I understand the spirit of your request. Let me restate that this is just the beginning, and this is not the extent of the activism. I've got much bigger and bolder ideas, but the first step is cleaning a little house and trying to make this site compatible with the rest of our plans. I'd be happy to discuss ideas you have on activism privately (or publicly).
Jody, I'm glad you love the site. Jeff and I spent ages working on it, improving it, planning it, and of course programming it. It's a powerful tool, and we're going to utilize it.
Tim Sturm! We gotta get you a new picture! Glad to see you you, and thanks for your well-wishes.
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