ImprobableJoe, Welcome to the Firing Line.
I do hope you stick around long enough to see what we are all about.
This particular section of TFL has a long history. You will note that there is a sub-forum off of this one called, Legal & Political. That was the precursor forum to this one.
The short history is that folks decided that the L&P forum was the place where all their political rants and fantasies could be made public. sigh. The staff of TFL finally had enough and closed that forum, in Sept. of 2008.
After careful consideration, this forum was opened to a select few members, for a trial period. In early Jan. of this year, we opened the forum to the general membership.
The rules for participation in this forum are strict and generally, political topics are off topic. If you trouble yourself to read the rules, for this forum, and follow the links, you will more understand the history and why we do things the way they are now laid out.
Having said all of this, there is a sticky thread in the General Discussion area, for new member introductions. This thread is off topic and closed.