Yesterday I spent an afternoon and evening as we all periodically do
when our computers misbehave, or we think they do. Yesterday I wasn't
able to access wi-fi; which is usually the fault of my router. After
rebooting several times, I thought perhaps my router had failed; so I
got a new one from my closet and went through the aggravating trial and
error one must go through to set one up, unless one is a techie who does
this all the time.
After getting my new router to work, I discovered that I had access to
the internet through Mozilla Firefox, but I still didn't have access to
my email through Mozilla Thunderbird. I then recalled a few times in
the past when I had access to the internet but not my email; so I hoped
that my email would be back this morning, and it was.
However I still couldn't access the photographic forums and the ongoing
discussions I was in. I could no longer type my password in the space
provided for it. Perhaps I have been banned I finally wondered.
Moderators can do that for all sorts of reasons, and they don't need to
explain themselves to the real or imagined offenders.
After checking to make sure my new router was functioning properly, I
checked my email system and found they were once again coming into my
in-basked without hesitation. The first one I read was the following
from Garrison Keillor:
"I am thinking about moving to Texas so that I can be in open
disagreement with the powers that be and express this freely, instead of
living in colonies of liberal progressives where I must put tape over my
mouth except when among close personal friends. Freedom of speech is
watched closely where I live and we all know it. “What exactly is it you
want to say that you can’t?” you wonder. It is something that, were I to
say it, I’d be kicked out of the Democratic Party and my library card
would be confiscated and I’d be barred from Amazon and Starbucks and the
Episcopal church would make me sit in the Penitents’ Corner. So I’ll
keep it to myself. . . ."
The moderators would make short work of Keillor if he voiced such an
opinion on one of the photographic forums. I myself occasionally think
of moving to Idaho, but then I don't talk or write as much as I used to,
so it's probably okay to stay here.
Lawrence
