James R Gordon Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Jim, April 4th is the date of my last payment. That payment keeps the forum funded until May 11th so the forum has around 6 weeks remaining. Regarding keeping the present site Invision will provide a complete backup. The problem is that backup needs to be hosted and that hosting needs to be paid for. I have been looking into a donation system. Our old donation system was deleted when I agreed that Invision upgrade us to Forum software V4. It is a little more complex but I would hope to get it up and running shortly. Yes we could move to another host, but I feel we would be better off staying with Invision. However, unless it has to fall on a single member - irrespective of who that member is - maybe we should think about a donation system. I will try and expedite the donation system and see where that takes us. I will consider extending Invision's fee for a couple of more months. Essentially I am just fed up of member squabbling. Pat Speer may well be right that compared to other sites ours is much more respectful. However there is a minority who have used forum threads either to flood members with their pet theme irrespective of the actual theme of the thread. Or use threads to engage in personal squabbles with fellow members. I detect that in the last few days the forum is seeing a change of tone. It is my hope that new dialogue will continue. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hargrove Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Thank you for the reply, James. No doubt more than a few of us will be interested in learning more about how we can help you keep the Ed Forum alive and well. Despite our obvious problems, there is clearly some important work going on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Knight Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I am a believer in members funding the forum. If you think it's worth saving, put your money where your keyboard is. I also realize some folks may not have the means to do so, and I don't want them to seem like or feel like second-class members. Nor do I want the members who do contribute to act as if they have purchased the right to be rude and crude. James Gordon has done a great thing by keeping the entire Education Forum afloat. It's not only the JFK assassination discussion forum, but it includes many various educational topics. The site was founded, first and foremost, as an EDUCATIONAL resource. If we will try to looks it through that lens, perhaps the rudeness and lack of respect will diminish accordingly. Pat Speer has his own site, and he understands, I believe, the educational angle. That's simply one example. But I think if we can steer our comments and questions toward an educational perspective, a lot of animosity will disappear. This does NOT exclude anyone from the responsibility to posting factual information, nor from the responsibility of labelling opinion and theory as opinion and theory. If you post something that someone else points out and proves as false, that does not relieve you of the responsibility of acknowledging proven facts. That is simply common courtesy. It does not demean anyone to say "I stand corrected," or "I was unclear," or even, "The facts you cited may be disputed." It's all about respecting one another, and respecting that others may have a theory or opinion that differs from your own based upon the same facts. Respect one another, tell the truth (a HUGE sore spot for me personally), and remember the original EDUCATIONAL mission of The Education Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 5 hours ago, Mark Knight said: Pat Speer has his own site, and he understands, I believe, the educational angle. Mark, I beg to disagree. Pat Speer assumed the authenticity of the Fox 5 autopsy photo before he did any research. What is "educational" about such an approach? In 2003 Pat claimed JFK's shirt and jacket were bunched up 2 inches, so the bullet holes in the clothes aligned with T1. In 2014 Pat stipulated to the fact JFK's clothing wasn't bunched up, and so the bullet holes in the clothes still aligned with T1. Many of our "JFK experts" don't understand the root facts of he case, and deserve fact-checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Knight Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Mr. Varnell, for what it's worth, I am in agreement with you about the location of the back wound. That said, the topic of this thread is NOT the location of the back wound. If you wish to re-debate the issue with others, it would be prudent and respectful to do so on a thread dedicated to that topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Mark Knight said: Mr. Varnell, for what it's worth, I am in agreement with you about the location of the back wound. That said, the topic of this thread is NOT the location of the back wound. If you wish to re-debate the issue with others, it would be prudent and respectful to do so on a thread dedicated to that topic. Mark, I'm pushing back on your claim that Pat Speer's views are "educational." Edited March 21, 2018 by Cliff Varnell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Clark Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Maybe James or another admin can tell us if this is helpful, and if so, how helpful. When using this start page .... http://www.educationforum.co.uk/forum.html .... Which Andy Walker created and brought to the attention of forum members on this thread.... http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/5150-new-start-page/ I see an advertising banner at the top. Sometimes it advertises local businesses. Perhaps: 1. Users could use this to enter the forum. (Would it generate revenue?) 2. Things could be set-up so that all outside traffic gets directed to that page. From there they could click a link that would direct them to the page to which they were originally navigating. It would essentially be an advertising portal, which already exists. You might as well use it, right? Just out of curiosity, and I understand that it is none of my business, Do you see any revenue from that page? Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 9 hours ago, Mark Knight said: This does NOT exclude anyone from the responsibility to posting factual information, nor from the responsibility of labelling opinion and theory as opinion and theory. If you post something that someone else points out and proves as false, that does not relieve you of the responsibility of acknowledging proven facts. That is simply common courtesy. It does not demean anyone to say "I stand corrected," Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Clark Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Also, I would like to ask another question. Since David Josephs "vacation" was partly due to a misunderstanding, it is possible that that has happened before. When a member disappears there is usually nothing said about it, I assume that I must not be aware of what transpired, and that it is none of my business. But, there could be members who could very well come back, and there "vacation" was due to a misunderstanding or it was only supposed to be brief. My question is: Do you mind being asked about such things? Publicly or privately? Publicly addressing it makes some sense so that other members don't have to wonder about the same question. Perhaps having some indicator on their profile would make it clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrej Stancak Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Barring the payments to the website host cover the service till May 11, can we discuss the practicalities allowing the EF to continue. As it is turning out, EF will be sustained by voluntary donations of forum members and/or members of the public. The most simple solution would be having a functioning donation option on this website, and a donation meter showing the current balance. It would then be enough for one of the moderators to monitor the balance and issue a timely request to Forum members in case the balance would not cover the maintenance costs for few months ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trejo Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 13 hours ago, Andrej Stancak said: Barring the payments to the website host cover the service till May 11, can we discuss the practicalities allowing the EF to continue. As it is turning out, EF will be sustained by voluntary donations of forum members and/or members of the public. The most simple solution would be having a functioning donation option on this website, and a donation meter showing the current balance. It would then be enough for one of the moderators to monitor the balance and issue a timely request to Forum members in case the balance would not cover the maintenance costs for few months ahead. Before we speak of donations -- we should also speak of what sort of total annual expense we're talking about. Is it $10,000 annually? $1,000 annually? $100 annually? What is needed from each of the active members? $1 monthly? $10 monthly? If the members cannot support the site -- what are the prospects of a member downloading 6 years worth of one's own posts for archiving? All best, --Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 3/21/2018 at 5:53 AM, James R Gordon said: However there is a minority who have used forum threads either to flood members with their pet theme irrespective of the actual theme of the thread. James, I cop to it, and I apologize if I've worn your nerves jumping into threads with posts relating to the back wound. I think the physical evidence in a murder case is the sun around which all other evidence revolves, and so I'll make thematic connections in threads others don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Graves Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 3/20/2018 at 10:48 PM, Paul Brancato said: Tom what's his name derailed many threads here, but I often found interesting connections in his posts Thank you, Paul. -- TG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Not you Mr. Graves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Graves Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 18 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said: Not you Mr. Graves. Tom Scully? -- TG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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