Ceit Butler
A number of people are criticizing those who have spoken up and admitted to quietly reading in the background. I think that perhaps those who have been critical are forgetting what it was like to first enter this group.
There is an ENORMOUS amount of information to catch up on, for starters, and I know that it was MONTHS before I posted anything here. I felt that until I had grasped a better understanding of the information, my opinion wasn't relevant OR helpful.
Next, you must admit, it's a fairly intimidating group. It takes time to identify and strip away the programming and simply observing and absorbing as much of the information here as possible is the best way to do that.
Newcomers that enter and begin spouting Free-dumb bullshit are quickly smacked-down. I'm sure that's a VERY effective deterrent for any others that might harbour similar delusions. It also has the simultaneous advantage of convincing newbies that "shut the fuck up and read" is the best course of action. :p
In closing, it's good to hear from those who are otherwise silent, perhaps think about cutting them some slack in this area. It's sort of heartwarming to have confirmation that not ALL of the other 580-odd lurkers are infiltrators.