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Normal spring weather, 5-12 inches of rain forecasted for the next few days. Tornado watches also in the forecast, currently under one till noon.

Well that blows. Is this the beginning of the end of vanilla forums? I have to imagine that without security updates, the software is on borrowed time.

@VegasFrank said:
Well that blows. Is this the beginning of the end of vanilla forums? I have to imagine that without security updates, the software is on borrowed time.

No, Vanilla is still very much here to stay. I do know there is a new "standard" version of their offered themes, but CCOM has yet to switch since it will take some QA testing and a few tweaks to try and preserve the version of the Forum you all know. Those changes probably won't take place for nearly a year.

@VegasFrank said:
@TheCigarChick

This new format blows hard. Can we have the old one back?

The original formatting/theme was sunset by Vanilla (forum hosting site) many, many months ago. While we're able to remain on it for the near future, there will be some changes that Vanilla institutes that I cannot override because the coding is no longer supported.

That being said, I never knew these little tweaks were happening on the Vanilla side because it's time I come clean to you all: I've been off CIGAR.com business for months now, and so I'm not super in-tune with the day-by-day of it all anymore. While I'm still with STG and will always have a major soft spot for CIGAR.com, I got promoted and moved to a different division of the business. I've kept - and will keep! lol - my Admin privileges for the Forum as I'm one of the few people in the company overall who knows the inner-workings of this site feature, but I'm only logging in when one of you tags me in a post or sends me a DM.

I can tell you I work for General Cigar now, so more than happy to take your thoughts/questions/concerns about our portfolio, as everyone's opinions on this Forum truly matter to me.

@Amos_Umwhat said:

@silvermouse said:

This strikes me as an outstanding example of race baiting propaganda. Exactly of the nature to ensure that conflict between the races remains active in our country, and never dies.

With complete disregard of facts or truth, Mr. Bolling reaches into the psyche of the disaffected or delusional, offends anyone who believes in merit as being a primary source of personal accomplishment, thus keeping the flames of hatred stoked in order to provide a source of power for those who wish to exploit those sentiments in certain segments of our population.

Well, that's politics for you. Some things never change. I'm sure the Socialists will enjoy the gist of this one.

I should add that I don't fault Edward, having lived through the years when institutional racism was a real thing I say none of us want that to return. Why don't we just let it die?

I don't mean to start anything up because I really don't want to, but I think it's important that we all realize it's an institutional racism is alive and well in the United States of America. I was like you Steve. I didn't believe it I even spoke against the idea several times. And I adopted a black kid. I can tell you that it's real. I can give you a hundred no **** examples that will be tldr. Or maybe you wouldn't even agree with some of them. Maybe you would agree that was institutional racism just racism.

But that's not true. To me institutional or systemic racism means that the racism is built into the system + the system leaves one with very few choices but to remain in the system. Credit scores, public schools, social services, grocery stores, and prisons are all examples that keep systemic or institutional racism alive in this country.

You can slice it and dice it and alibi it anyway you want, but the bottom line is that if you're born into poverty, you're going to grow up in poverty and you're going to live in poverty as an adult. If you go up a class it is only one class. There are no outs unless you can shoot a basketball or sing a song. Poor people are born with no money they're trying to act like they have no money they're not giving opportunities to make any money, and they are encouraged to reproduce in the neighborhood with no money so their children grow up poor.

@TRayB said:
It has to be some sort of glitch in the matrix. Icons for Notifications, Inbox, and Bookmarks show up only as rectangles, all the same.

I agree. Format is Gurkha

@VegasFrank said:

@ShawnOL said:
Astronomers or astronauts (whichever one does this kind of thing) say they've discovered another place in the known universe with oxygen. Yep, you guessed it...at the farthest point from earth on the other side of the universe.

Literally every planet in the solar system (maybe not mercury?) and every galaxy in the universe has oxygen. Am I missing the joke?

I remember thinking the same thing. I think it was a bullsh*t 'discovery' to help secure funding.