The one thing I don't want people to think about the Real Progress For Greensboro Facebook forum is that it's Billy's forum. It's not. It's Greensboro's forum. The only moderation I really plan to do is to eliminate spam and repeat spammers. And in my book, spam isn't posting a link to your blog when you've written a post about Greensboro. Spam is unsolicited commercial postings, aka free advertising. If you write a local blog and post about local issues then I want you to post links there.
I want people to be willing to agree or disagree. The only thing that isn't acceptable is going with the flow just because that's what everyone else is doing. Throughout history, the people who have made the most progress have never been the most popular simply because they refused to go with the flow. Oh sure, everybody speaks highly of Martin Luther King now but when he was alive the vast majority of Americans hated him. Some of you might not be old enough to remember that but I am.
So tell your friends, liberal and conservative, middle of the road, about this forum. If they're local to Greensboro I'll not turn them away. Nor will I boot them out when they piss me off. Even Jeff Martin who I might someday squash like the vermin he is and Ed Cone who banned me from his blog are invited to join in if they wish. And yes, I might get pissed-off and threaten Jeff again but that will only happen when he starts fucking with people I care about, like Greensboro's next mayor, George Hartzman, who is already a member of Real Progress For Greensboro.
Yes, people will get angry, people will say things they shouldn't say, people will say things they and the rest of us will regret-- for a while-- but if enough of us start talking we can rattle the cages of the powers that be and bring Real Progress to Greensboro and not just fatten the wallets of a few plugged in developers and downtown elites.
And just so you all know it. I struggle very hard with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Depression and have done so for 40 plus years to the point that it is sometimes debilitating.. My apologies in advance for my bad days when I say things I shouldn't. When I finally realize I've caused you pain I'll try my best to remedy the situation. I always hurt inside when I come to discover I'm responsible for friendly fire incidents and it takes me a very long time to get over each one. That's not an excuse that's just what I am and what growing up in Greensboro taught me to be. I'm in treatment, taking classes, seeing professionals, trying to get better but it took me a long time... And some days I just sleep.
PS. If you're a friend and I didn't invite you it's not because I didn't want you there. It's because I'm being my normal over protective self just like my therapist keeps telling me I do about those of you I care about.
