BritDownUnder wrote:I liked the Oil Drum and I still puzzle why it stopped.
We got a decent payoff from the CIA to wind it up...
But seriously a number of reasons. The comment section became unwieldy with the loudest and doomiest dominating, moderation became too big a job. We were unable to get everyone on the same page, couldn't get the crowd off first base. 'Debate' was lacking with most people stuck on their own single issue everything was just hammer/nail - rinse/repeat. There's only so long a group of unpaid writers/editors can continue.
Is the oildrum still archived? It was an amazing place. I suspect those in the know who could write posts were warned away by employers, esp after the GOM blowout.
fuzzy wrote:there are no young entering the discussion
Yeah, the attendees of the big seed-saving organisation near me consists of aging hippies, very few under 40.
Today’s kids have been given access to credit (conspiracy!) for cheap toys which give an illusion of never-ending ‘ok’ - not great - times. Plus tv doesn’t encourage thinking.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
started when TheOilDrum died and is still very much alive. It has a lot of very knowledgeable oil insiders, some more doomy than others, and a lot of very US centric technical detail, as well as some good old anti-civilisation trolls etc.
A few UK/European posters keeps the tone more balanced and it is often worth a read.