Mouse is emblematic of the reason why I don't participate here hardly at all anymore, and in fact a larger overall problem I have seen at this and other discussion groups. Mouse posts more than any other member ever. The only content I ever see from mouse is news feed type, sky-is-falling, simplistic, us-vs-them, bunker mentality, dichromatic, you-won't-believe-this, uninteresting, shallow, at times hyperbolic, under-researched, hasty, unreliable, poorly sourced, sensationalistic, tabloid-esque garbage. It's clickbait. Mouse is undaunted by lack of edifying discussion generated by his posts, he seems to feel that if you throw a hundred posts on the wall, one of them is bound to spark some discussion, and if not discussion, then at least attention.
The content mouse posts is worse than useless- it's disempowering, because what can be done about it? For instance: "Massachusetts law enforcement agencies claim they corporations, exempt from FOIA," is a recent post. I'm not interested in this kind of content. And, at least in General Discussion, that seems to be the de rigeur. It's not just mouse, but he is by far the worst offender, in my opinion. For all the posts he throws up, I have never felt like there was any personal connection made. And based on some of the things I see him link, I don't think I want one anyway.
And where is Joel, and Thunder and Lightning, and debeez, and coloradohermit, and the others whom I have cherished in one way or another? They're either gone or silent, or nearly so. TMM has changed, and I have changed as well, but we have not changed in similar ways or directions. To the extent that I come here at all anymore, it's to interact with the people I already have connections with who haven't transitioned over to social media.
You go back about 7 years or more and you look at the General Discussion page topics and you see a lot more actual discussion. I mean, there was always some newsfeed type content, but now and in the past few years, it has become almost given over to that. It's not fair to compare what exists now to what existed several years ago. I get that. But nevertheless, I liked it a lot better when it was a discussion forum, not a news feed. The one place I get that at all anymore is the Economics board. And that's mostly where you'll find me.
I don't think I personally attacked mouse, because I don't know mouse as a person. I think I might have known that he is from New Zealand, but I'm not even really sure I'm right about that. I'm not even sure I'm referring to him (her?) in the correct pronoun. I'm talking strictly about content. On that score, I'll stand by what I said. I know I could have said it more delicately or with more circumspection, but in the previous 8 pages of this thread there was talk of having to have a thick skin to participate here, so I took it as license.
In any case, I'll refrain from using blunt verbiage going forward. That said, I remain steadfast in my substantive observations.