I Depart from the Masthead of First Things

[Marcus]

Good luck Spengler!
How about some more info on the forthcoming book?

Indeed. Please keep us posted.

[hoosiernorm]

Well heck, are you going to be able to export this forum back over to the Expat Bar? There is a lot of good content here.

[total issues]

David,

Will you be retaining the Spengler Forum, which has been unified with First Things and Asian Times?

If so, how do First Things readers continue to access it?

Rabbi Chaim Frazer

Dear Rabbi Frazer, our Spengler continues to write for Asia Times Online (ATOl) and his essays are discussed at his Forum there, The Spengler Expat Bar. You are most welcome to join us in discussing Spengler's ideas and essays. I have been following Spengler's essays since 2005 or so, so I understand how difficult it is to let go. There's something about Spengler!

Link here:
http://spengler.atimes.net/index.php

[Marcus]

Link here:
http://spengler.atimes.net/index.php

Thanks for the link, total issues. I clicked on the link and got this:

You have been banned from this forum.

No explanation, no reason.

Since you're still active on that forum, would you check around over there for me and see whether there's anything posted to the effect that I've been banned and the reason for my ban? If you learn anything, you could send me a PM here on this forum. Thanks for any information . .

For any interested, the great majority of the old bunch that used to post on the Spengler forum at ATOL are now assembled at the Diegetics forum, so feel free to check it out and join us in discussing a broad range of ideas and subject matter in a very free and open manner.

[Booklady]

David,

Will you be retaining the Spengler Forum, which has been unified with First Things and Asian Times?

If so, how do First Things readers continue to access it?

Rabbi Chaim Frazer

Dear Rabbi Frazer, our Spengler continues to write for Asia Times Online (ATOl) and his essays are discussed at his Forum there, The Spengler Expat Bar. You are most welcome to join us in discussing Spengler's ideas and essays. I have been following Spengler's essays since 2005 or so, so I understand how difficult it is to let go. There's something about Spengler!

Link here:
http://spengler.atimes.net/index.php

Thanks Total Issues, I dared not post the address lest Auerbach might object, and ban me. Although now it seems moot.

[Marcus]

Thanks Total Issues, I dared not post the address lest Auerbach might object, and ban me. Although now it seems moot.

Not to worry, BL . . .

. . being banned is not a big deal, depending of course from where one is banned . . .



That said, being banned by hypocritical moderators who haven't the integrity to post the ban or the reasons for it says more about the moderators and the fora they moderate than it says about the person banned.

In the meantime, anyone seeking a format free of arbitrary rules, partisan moderation, hidden agendas, and clandestine bans should check out these fora for discussion of a variety of subjects and ideas in a free and open atmosphere.

If you know what you think and believe and are willing to share and defend your ideas, check it out.

Consider this an invitation, BL . . . . . . you too, Pasta . .

[Auerbach]

No word has yet come to us of an actual closing of this forum, though it seems that with any additional material for discussion set off to the indefinite future, we would be missing any purpose. So, no problem posting links to active boards in the spirit of keeping the spengler community alive.

On an unrelated note, there's an interesting item dropped in my email from an unspecified member of the participant moderation team over at spengler's AsiaTimes forum. I am rather nonplussed and embarrassed to post this, but I was told that this was significant and that a meaning can be drawn from it:

[Marcus]

Some of us burn bridges on purpose because where the bridge goes has become toxic or otherwise not worth visiting.

BURNING BRIDGES

Bridges in flames
Everywhere she looks,
The smoke filling her lungs
She is choking.

She thought she could burn bridges,
The ones she didn’t need.
But she lost control.
She is stranded.

Too prideful to call for help,
She watches all she has
Blazing and smoldering.
She is empty-handed.

No escape route,
It burned with the bridges,
She shouldn’t have played with fire.
She is burning.

The ashes float away
Distributed by the wind,
Charred remains left in the wake.
She is left behind,

A glowing ember.

—Gangstaeyes

That ATOL moderator would do well to keep in mind that bridges can be burnt from either end . . .

[Booklady]

Thank you for the kind invitation, Marcus.

ATOl's Spengler Forum is important for me because it is where I can read Mr. Goldman's Spengler essays and discuss these with others who are drawn by his unique point of view. I am hopeful that he will continue to write for First Things for a signed up for another year's subscription.

[Marcus]

Thank you for the kind invitation, Marcus.

ATOl's Spengler Forum is important for me because it is where I can read Mr. Goldman's Spengler essays and discuss these with others who are drawn by his unique point of view. I am hopeful that he will continue to write for First Things for a signed up for another year's subscription.

You're welcome, Booklady. More folks at Diegetics than I would be glad to see you there. (You too, Pasta, Michael, et al.*)

As for ATOL, keep in mind that whatever David writes or where, it can be read and discussed more places than the fora at ATOL. Also, as David has noted, David as Orthodox Jew/Zionist/NeoCon are not at all the same commodity as was the mysterious Spengler. As evidenced by these fora here, his writing in the future will have a much more restricted appeal and audience.

Then too, the fora at ATOL have done David irreparable harm in the eyes of some. Whoever was left in charge over there after David's departure for FT created a most disagreeable atmosphere as evidenced by the mass departure of members when given an alternative. There are what now, maybe three folks posting at ATOL that aren't also posting at Diegetics? What the moderators at ATOL have accomplished is to thoroughly discredit themselves and the fora as they selectively enforce rules, play favorites, and arbitrarily impose bans. Not a pretty picture.

So keep my invitation to join us at Diegetics in mind. It's not perfect . . pretty rough-and-tumble at times, but at least one is free to give as good as one gets, something quite impossible at ATOL. My guess is that these fora will disappear when David leaves FT, but who knows? ATOL seems moribund . . nothing at all of value there any longer . . almost embarrassing to watch their efforts to remain viable.

For the time being, Diegetics seems the best possible place for the old Spengler bunch to reassemble and carry on the old ex-pat bar. Time will tell. Maybe we will all just slowly fade away.

**********************

Finally, I hope David will continue writing but would prefer to read him somewhere other than First Things magazine. Too, I'm looking forward to David's upcoming book (What are the chances of getting an autographed copy?). Life goes on.

*Booklady: Please extend an invitation to JITIY to post on the Diegitics fora. I see he's still trying to (partially) blame the Protestant Reformation for the Holocaust. I for one would like to ask him, on a level playing field, what caused the Spanish Inquisition, the reign of Bloody Mary, and the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.

[Ysais]

Good luck David. I will be looking forward your book.

God bless,

[lzzrdgrrl]

Such is the publishing world: the challenge of producing a well-printed book of nearly a hundred pages in a world of sound-bites and digital images compels the journal to undertake major economies. I've been invited to contributed free-lance in the future and plan to do so...

I look at my issues of Harper's Monthly from the 1930's and recall when such was expected and commonplace. The best things we give up without comment while we whinge and natter about the trivial and almost meaningless. Do we recall when we could go about our business without carrying a cell phone and still consider ourselves responsible adults? That's because amenities could be provided efficiently at low cost and the social order expressed appreciation for those amenities by using them thoughfully and not destroying them for mental stimulation or out of a fit of pique. Ten-cent hamburgers??2?.... pfff..... how about leaving the post in the drop-box for a weekend and not having to have a thought about it?.......

[exuma]

Rabbi,

With all due respect, sir, not by me . . missed, that is. As a Christian, I simply won't tolerate, with my subscription dollars, articles like "No Friend In Jesus." While there is assuredly a place in the public square for the Jewish voice, it is not on the pages of First Things.

Could you perhaps steer me to a Jewish magazine or Web site?

Best regards,
Marcus

Marcus, I am curious about your attitude concerning First Things. I have subscribed off and on in the past, always read the online content and especially Spengler's essays. You will notice that I have not contributed to the forum much(how's that for understatement). What has always attracted me to First Things was the inclusiveness. Though heavily weighted toward Christianity, I have never considered it a Christian magazine. Maybe I am wrong, but a look at the 'About Us' tab would seem to back me up.

First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society.

If this focus is to change, then I, for one, will go elsewhere.

[Tor]

I am rather nonplussed and embarrassed to post this, but I was told that this was significant and that a meaning can be drawn from it:

I think it's more like this:

[Booklady]

Marcus seems to have departed all three boards, as well. Perhaps he is in a quest for the perfect board. Hope he finds it.