This is my 3000th post on OLO, 1500 of which are article comments and 1500 general comments.

So I thought it might be an appropriate time for me to say toodle loo, see you round, chow and bye bye and move on to other things.

But first I’d like to ask a bunch of questions:

How effective is this forum?

What are us participants achieving?

Is it helping to facilitate the views of ordinary people in reaching the decision-makers and influencing policy direction?

Or is it effectively waylaying people and causing them to spend their time expressing themselves in a place where their comments won’t be read, rather than bothering politicians or bureaucrats more directly?

Does it have entertainment or social networking value?

Is OLO the right place for people like me to express their deep concerns and put forward ideas?

Is its significance being diluted or is it expanding as its reputation as the most eminent online debating forum for social and political debate becomes better known?

What do all you good OLO contributors think?

This sort of theme has been broached before. But with the rapidly increasing number of avenues for people to have an input online, with arguably the worst Federal government now in power that we’ve ever seen and with a whole series of ominous factors bearing down on us such as population overload, climate change, peak oil, etc, I think it could be valuable to solicit an update of opinions.

BTW, I won’t be leaving this forum any time soon. I think that it is very much worthwhile spending numerous hours on it each week ( :>)

Some things are worthwhile and others are not.
There are to many pro against govt; comments here.
Which of course adds up to nothing. I believe that whatever govt' is in power comments should be constructive and not commented on like a football match.

Ludwig a good thread starter, do not go away, please.
Desmond sorry we differ, say it as you think, honesty is the best policy always.
I Ludwig do not wish to return to that thread, the one you said you could not understand my post, read it again.
However that slap at C J Morgan?
Do you understand why I find far less wrong with him than you do?
Bloke I know he is very much a green voter, and you know I proudly am from Labors center unity faction.
But time and again I have seen him slandered just for giving an opinion.
I have no barrow to push for the bloke but find less wrong than in others.
One simple statement, if we follow Desmond's lead, tell lies rather than offend we may as well close the forum down, free speech is a freedom we can measure our selfs by.
I have concerns at actions on both sides of the house, in NSW the whole building seems inhabited by useless beggars.
I am a Rudd fan, but find issues to concern me, with him and his deputy.
To debate politics we must be free to have our own opinions right or wrong it is every ones right to make a fool of himself.

Ludwig ,I've never looked.Wishing you all the best.Adios Amigos.

Adds new meaning to the term 'numerically challenged', Ludwig. I congratulate you on a topic that cannot be mis-spelled.

Who would have thought such equality of expression in the respective areas of the Forum could have arisen without contrivance? But even were contrivance to have been involved, what skill to have arrived at such a benchmark on time and even-handedly! Barely believable, but believe it we must for there it is before our eyes. Proof:

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/user.asp?id=22800&show=history

And, freezing it in time, http://twitpic.com/qukk2

To think that only hours ago (well, days, if you must) the best Ludwig could offer in response to a challenge as to how many times he had posted, or submitted, in certain respects, was 'many'. See: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3238#76851

Just shows who does real research, and who does not, doesn't it? Hides his light under a botanical bushell does our Ludwig, does he not? (Then again, what, other than botanical, is a 'bushell' measure? It goes against the grain to think otherwise, does it not? Someone has to draw the Cv Linne, don't they? One of the two certainties, taxa, isn't it (or aren't they, as the case may be)?) Apart from death, that is.

In answer to 'how effective is this Forum etc ?', we cannot be sure, but when questions effectively asked here get answered elsewhere on other fora, one could be forgiven for thinking some notice is taken of these threads.

And, lest Ludwig be inclined to think me to be unduly loquacious, be it known that he would be right: having just recovered from a virtually direct lightning strike on my computer, with the robustness of Ubuntu Linux and an installation of Ubuntu 8.04 on an el cheapo second-hand Dell Optiplex GX520, I'm back up and away! And I've had a couple of celebratory drinks to boot, as they say in the world of geeks and computerdom, where they like boots.

Bang on the word limit!

Ludwig

<< This is my 3000th post on OLO, 1500 of which are article comments and 1500 general comments. >>

Ah ha, so that's why you didn't reply to my recent double post addressed especially to you. You didn't want to upset your neat little numbers as you neared your milestone! And here was I thinking it was because I had you stumped. Silly me. :)

I have no idea how effective this forum is as far as getting our opinions out there. The thing I like though is the quick response. If you write to a politician you'll be lucky to receive a reply, and if you do it's usually so far down the track that you've almost forgotten you've written. And then it's likely to be heavy on spin and light on substance. If you write to a paper you're likely to be heavily edited and won't always see much in the way of feedback. Here at least you mostly get a response from someone.

I find OLO a relaxing diversion. Being the opinionated type, it's good to be able to have a say on issues I consider important. Whether it goes any further or not doesn't particularly bother me. I think any time you share your ideas with others, you're impacting on their thinking to some extent, even if they completely disagree with you.

Congratulations, Ludwig, on the big 3000. Hopefully, you'll stick around for another thousand or so. The place would be much poorer without you. :)