Bleh . . .

[Whit]

I've been wondering. Throughout the various thoughtful and intelligent threads, I haven't seen much evidence of contributors changeing their views.

     Actually, I've seen it happen a few times. What I see much more often though is people here providing raw info or a viewpoint to people that haven't yet formed an opinion. This is almost always a good thing.
     It's true that some subjects nobody will budge on. The war is a good example of that. The sad part is that the majority by far were against the war, but many (myself included) decided to support the troops anyway. I stopped posting on those threads because of the overwhelming close-mindedness of everyone (myself included) involved. We had made up our minds and were sticking to our decisions. Still I read them because they often contained info I had missed on the news.
     On the other hand, there have been a few discussions that have lead to plenty of reevaluation of views around here. That's one of the reasons I love this place so much. A fair portion of the patronage will vary their opinions, just don't expect them to admit it outright. =]