Absolutely brilliant, Emcye, (and if wOw doesn’t hire you as a consultant they’re completely off the rails!) You’ve rolled out ideas that they should embrace with gusto, even though their learning curves will undoubtedly be steep. All the techno-info is exactly what cutting edge websites use and encourage from their bloggers - so smart, so interactive, so way beyond the type of low-level conversations that have lately appeared on other threads.  This thread has given us the opportunity to discuss our frustration with the dumbing-down of wOw, and now you’ve made suggestions that would raise it to an entirely different level. 

Statics say that wOw has close to a 50% male contributorship, and I am shocked by that number. To me that means this website is missing its mark. A larger percentage of women bloggers is imperative for wOw to meet its original, stated goals. When it went tabloid is when the gender ratio changed, I’m willing to bet. I’ve always seen wOw as an opportunity to be highly original, appealing to the mature hags, crones, and goddesses of the blog world. It certainly began with that promise. Then, when it all went downhill, the posts became stupid, snarky, and dull. Still are, on many threads. What is notable is that not one of those ill-intentioned posters has appeared on this thread. Jane is a magnet for real conversation and some very sophisticated thinking, as your post proves. She’s talked directly to us bloggers and I sense it’s from her heart. That’s huge and so necessary if this site is to survive. So, bravo, Emcye and thank you for your smart ideas. Let’s hope the wOw founders take them seriously and hire some really brainy techno-wizards to set up a better wOw soon.

Jane, I wanted to say a word directly to you about wOw and the disillusionment some of us have felt lately. There have been many comments and complaints on other threads, and there is no reason to repeat them here except to say that the quality that we had grown to appreciate has diminished within the past six months, and now a big percentage of the topics have been lifted from other news and tabloid media. I started posting on wOw because I loved the originality and the thought-provoking subject matter. When you posted your first Care-toon I was in heaven! You gave us intriguing art to think about, to discuss, and to enjoy. Later on, when so many of the threads went negative, I started losing my enthusiasm for the wOw website and I found others among the earlier posters who felt similarly. Now, I rarely comment because I know what’s coming next - a barrage of verbal abuse and language I would never tolerate in my 3D life. I do check in regularly, optimistic that I’ll find a great topic. I am so glad that you’re creating Care-toons again, Jane. wOw owes you a major award of thanks for bringing some of us back. And my personal thanks for your responses to our posts. It means so much to know that you are reading what we write. 

Mo

The prison system has become a major industry that states depend upon for cheap labor and rich investors profit from. If you think about the fact that inmates have no rights - cannot strike, cannot arrive late to work, cannot get raises, cannot take vacations - they provide a work force that is highly explotative. No other country in the world has incarcerated so many of its citizens.

"The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors." -The Prison Industry in the United States:Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? by Vicky Pelaez, Global Research, March 10, 2008.

Prison is not about rehabilitation. It’s a money-making industry for big-time investors, and we should all be aware of the fact that we pay enormous sums to line their pockets. 

Frannie -Yes, that was the quake they were in. They’d just returned from an evening at the home of friends, had parked their car in the garage under the building and had gotten ready for bed when the quake hit. Their car was completely crushed. If they’d been ten minutes later….   I’ve been thankful for their safe escape for years.