It's Official!

[buckethead]

After much reasearch, reflection, inner dialogue and multiple hours of lurking; It is time to make the announcement.

The debate can be furious, and I like that. Persons can be questioned and challenged to respond, then expected to do so. Ideas abound, and passion is obvious.

I hereby declare MetroJacksonville.com the absolute best website in the histry of the universe.

Any disagreement with this announcement is welcome, but please show your work.

[Johnny]

I wonder though, if one would disagree, would they be labeled a racist by stephen?

j/k, kinda

[Lunican]

Well, if nothing else, we make boring topics interesting I suppose...

[copperfiend]

I thought this was about the Dolphins-Jaguars game being officially blacked out.

[77danj7]

^ That is what I thought too...

[Captain Zissou]

I'm personally a fan of www.something.com

In regards to the Jags v Dolphins  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDVvna9TNvc&feature=related

[sandyshoes]

Better not keep splitting this thread; somebody's gonna get their panties in a swivet and call you out on it.

[BridgeTroll]

It had to be done...

Main Entry: swiv·et
Pronunciation: \ˈswi-vət\
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1892
: a state of extreme agitation <in a swivet>

[sandyshoes]

Wonderful!  I just like the word, didn't know it was that old...I first heard it from an Alabamian, so maybe the origin is the Southern USA?   

[Sportmotor]

I hereby declare MetroJacksonville.com the absolute best website in the histry of the universe.

Any disagreement with this announcement is welcome, but please show your work.

History***

[Reaper man]

I hereby declare MetroJacksonville.com the absolute best website in the history of the universe.

Any disagreement with this announcement is welcome, but please show your work.

No, this is the best page in the universe.

[buckethead]

I hereby declare MetroJacksonville.com the absolute best website in the histry of the universe.

Any disagreement with this announcement is welcome, but please show your work.

History***

Did sportmotor just correct my spelling?

[heights unknown]

I wonder though, if one would disagree, would they be labeled a racist by stephen?

j/k, kinda

Why is that funny, Johnny?

When people are stupid, neither of us have a problem calling them stupid.

When people are being jocular, calling them on it is ok.

Its obvious that you don't like it when people get called out for racist behavior, and that may be your bag baby.

But that doesnt mean that devalidating the people who point it out makes it nonexistent.

BTW, I have heard the same bs all my life from people who don't think using the 'n' word is racist either.

The discussion about racism has had mostly to do with recent events in Springfield, especially at SPAR.

If racism is just an obsession with me, why is it that the subject rarely comes up downtown, in riverside, five points, san marco or any of the many other areas of town that I have lived or owned businesses?

Lets look at a few of the undisputed facts?

Perhaps you can explain why a neighborhood that is more than 60% African American is supposedly represented by a board which never has more than one or two black people on it?  

If black people, especially if they are poor, are hanging out in a parking lot are a business then that business is a Crime Magnet for "undesirables" (The BP on 8th, for example)

If white people are hanging out in a parking lot or on a street, with everyone drinking and carrying on, then thats called a neighborhood party!  (I guess the difference is whether or not there was an email sent out)

Ask James Shanks or the fellow with the Car Wash how welcoming the neighborhood is?  Or the Eritreans?

I was on the board of SPAR, incidentally, and was told by a past high ranking board member that the neighborhood wouldnt improve at all until all the Ni$*#@#s could get moved out.

I ran a business in the neighborhood for 4 years, and because of the skin color of our biggest monthly promotion, my place was called "Spooktown" instead of Boomtown by a good number of the locals.

So please.  Spare me the pooh poohing.  I know whereof I speak, and the truth is apparent to most of our readers.  I get a brickload of email at my personal email address (stephendare@gmail.com) every day on the various topics that we discuss, and trust me when I tell you that the public knowledge has no such issues of doubt.

I was privy to the discussions of the neighborhood for 9 years Johnny, and there are more than a few---in fact, quite a number of ----incidents that I have decided not to discuss because they are embarrassing to the individuals involved.  But if the alternative is to have my statements called into question by yourself and a few others constantly then I don't mind airing the linen?

Do you deny that the reason Main Street ended up being so expensive to renovate was that the city hadnt bothered repairing or upgrading any of the infrastructure for over 60 years?  Largely because of the area's status as the ghetto?

This issue goes way back in the neighborhood, incidentally.

For example did you know that the reason anti vagrancy laws got struck down all over the United States was due to an incident on Main Street in Springfield?
http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/405/405.US.156.70-5030.html

Maybe a little less racism and even handed enforcement, and cities would still be able to legally keep an eye on the panhandlers?

Wow; hit a nerve with you Stephen?  You sure did get it off your chest.  Anyway, good reply Stephen, though you "went off" and were "off the chain" in that reply.

"HU"

[sandyshoes]

Stephen, seriously, your blood pressure is probably gonna kill you sooner than you realize.  You can't keep taking everything people say, personally.  Speaking from experience, when one becomes an old fart, one learns to pick their battles carefully.  You can't walk around angry all the time, it's actually harmful to your own physical health, too.  I'm not being a jerk, I'm really trying to hear what you're not saying. Don't let people challenge you to prove anything, just take care of yourself and walk away from things and people you cannot change. 

[sheclown]

Most of us don't even know what it means to be a racist.  Our thoughts and judgments are so much a part of us, we don't recognize our attitudes as being anything other than our own "truths". 

It is an interesting topic, indeed, and bravely handled at MJ.