Hmmm should one donate to DU? I will say this

[The Straight Story]

Been here since 2004. Folks have come and gone (including myself at times).

I will donate this week. The reasons why:

1. Had many a folks here help me out at times in many ways - people I have never met, probably won't, but still helped me out in many ways over the last several ways.

2. I get up to the date news here (albeit, I am one of those people posting the news - I read a lot more here than I post) from many sources. I can learn more here in one day than I can a week on new sites and tv shows (to be honest, I watch little on TV, but when I do I am always like 'wow, you folks are just now talking about this? On DU we already had a ton of threads about it')

3. Real people and real discussions. We don't always agree and we can discuss it all here fairly openly (not totally, but fairly). This is no echo chamber for the most part - people here will rail against Dems as much as Repubs, they argue over principle generally.

4. Sheer enjoyment - the same reason people pay for cable, netflix, etc. I can read DU all day long and see news stories, personal ones, and here I will see (and post) stories that rarely see the light of day elsewhere.

5. DU has helped me in the worst times of my life. Not the site per se, but the people here. You let me rant and hugged me when I needed it. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY you did so for so many others. People you never met, people you only know from here, you 'took in' complete strangers.

Day in and out we can agree or fight - but we have a place to do it. As a developer myself I know that keeping such a site online takes money and hard work. Not JUST from the people who own it and maintain it --- but from YOU. This site is nothing without it users, and it is nothing without Skinner and others who work to maintain it.

Here at DU I know I can have a place to post, talk, and discuss things without having to focus on the overhead, etc. Some things I love, others I don't, but at the end of the day all I have to do is click 'Post' and I can share new stories or something personal and I don't have to worry about data bases, law suits, routers, bandwidth, etc and so on.

All I have to do is click my DU link and here I am.

Donate to DU? If you can please do. It is a place so many rely on. And thank you to all those that do - and to those who cannot, thank you as well for posting here and making this a website worth reading each day.

[eleny]

1. K&R!

[CleanGreenFuture]

2. K&R

Budget is a little tight but I'll see what I can do. ;)

[Faygo Kid]

3. Oh hell, Straight Story. I am here because of folks like you.

Been here since 2002. I have quit and come back a couple times, but this is family (that Skinner guy is a bit weird, though). Like you, I have posted stuff that was really quite insightful - and others that were pure junk. But, at least I have always had a place to visit that is Home.

I promise to continue to be cantankerous. And to stand up for Democratic ideals, in the best FDR tradition.

And to give 'em hell, too.

[Odin2005]

4. I wish I could donate, but I don't have the money.

I love DU because it is the biggest online left-wing internet community and it has a huge range of views and opinions. I have posted on more radical LW sites, but most of them are tiny and are associated with highly dogmatic parties like the Maoists and the Trotskyites and have very little room for actual discussion.

[The Straight Story]

6. Old friend Odin

I am sure me and others can cover your this round :) Keep on trucking...er posting.

Folks like you and others make DU worth coming to each day. You do your part in your posts - so donate by posting.

[MessiahRp]

13. Same here. :(

I used to donate at least once a year but I moved out to Michigan for my fiance because of her custody issues (not allowed to leave the state). Gave up a great job and a budding career. 9 months later no job and MI is a pit of hell when it comes to eCommerce jobs. Very few companies with these positions open and very few types of positions. 2 weeks until our baby is due and the pressure is on and money is thin.

Suffice to say I can't donate to DU like I'd like. 2011 has not been kind to me...

Rp

[Motown_Johnny]

5. I have decided to donate on my father's birthday every year

since he passed away years ago it is how I make a gesture in his memory. It is 3 days away so I will donate Wednesday.

[grilled onions]

7. DU Represents Hope

It represents ideas from all sides,people speak their minds. We learn from each other. We can't grow if we don't know where we have been,what mistakes have been made and what we need to do in the future to survive,for our families to thrive, for our planet to exist. We need DU because they will cover stories and opinions you won't see elsewhere. Not everyone can afford to donate right now(including me just getting out of the hospital) but I will later on down the road. Even donating no one get's their undies in a bunch because this one can afford and another cannot. We coexist the best way we know how. I hope it continues for a long time.

[cutlassmama]

8. KandR

[madinmaryland]

9. Recommended. Now what is your opinion on second hand grovelbots??

:hi:

[The Straight Story]

10. Simple - I stand on something called Principle

Adults and others should be free to choose where they post or drink, I am not down with others controlling others' lives :)

But hey, some are and I welcome their input as well ;)

[madinmaryland]

11. ...

That didn't come out right on my part. I didn't mean to imply you were a grovelbot, groveler, or anything like that. Just trying to make a joke about the "second-hand" issues we have had in the past and will probably continue to!!

:hi:

[Snarkoleptic]

12. My lack of a star is a badge of shame.

I'm in my mid-40's and asked for/was given $1,000 from my parents today (not the first time) to make my mortgage payment.
Our biggest mistake was thinking we were part of the middle class.
We live modestly but have been crushed by supply side economics and deregulation.
We've been self-sufficent from 1992 until last year when it hit the fan.

I know that President Obama has not been as progressive as we'd like, but look at the absofuckinglutely batshit crazy stuff we're gonna get (and deserve) if we don't GOTV next year.

I have hope for the future and WILL donate soon. I take much from DU and WILL give back and pay it forward.

[Snarkoleptic]

14. Thanks soooo much to whomever donated for me!!

I've got my star back!
DU rocks!!!!