Larry, although you can't have access to my Presidential Palaces, I will offer an apology.
I have been a long-time lurker on this thread, and enjoy it very much. Part of what I enjoy is that most people feel free to offer information and opinions, so we get a variety. I'm also a fan of debate of these opinions. But the debate should serve to expand everyone's knowledge, and flesh out arguments. The debate should not be used as an I-beat-you ego trip. I applaud your efforts to stimulate some of this debate. But I would ask you to think of your motives behind each post. Some opinions and arguments will not stand up to a rigorous scrutiny, some will. However, I would venture that even the ones that don't are valuable because they reflect the mindset of fellow investors, which is also useful information. If we require exacting standards of all posts, I feel that many would refrain from expressing themselves here, and it would be a loss to all of us. Also, I think it is possible to flesh out arguments without any degradation of either the poster or the post.
Of course, I am guilty ten-fold of personal attacks. You will note, that my flames were not co-mingled with criticisms of any other's opinion. They were obviously flames. I feel that it would be good if you flamed in a seperate post (and at least made them a little entertaining), and posted your positions and constructive criticisms in another post. This might alleviate any potential poster's reluctance to offer an opinion, for fear of also being subjected to feeling intellectually inferior.
I probably should have posted something similar to this post from the start, but instead chose to attack what I saw as a danger to this thread. For that, I apologize. I have always enjoyed the substance (if not the presentation) of your posts.
Cheers,
~Mitch |
