I've been reading these boards for a few months now and only occasionally do I feel I have anything substantive to contribute to an active thread. I assumed that many of you regulars enjoyed light hearted, tongue-in-cheek humor and maybe even enjoyed poking fun at the occasional novice who stumbled upon this web site and asked the same question as the previous 100 newcomers. Lacking any real literary skills or humorous tendencies I have abstained from contributing to many of these threads. But now that the rules have been more clearly defined, I feel I finally have something to contribute. Based on the last couple of posts, I can see how those newcomers have become a drain on this bulletin board. Their annoying repetition of thoroughly covered subject matter definitely detracts from the really meaningful threads that are so important to us more serious cigar enthusiasts. I for one am totally supportive of any initiative to improve the quality of this site. So, I propose that no newcomers be permitted to address this hallowed body until they have met a few prerequisites. When a newcomer first registers for a user ID and password he should be linked directly to the archive page where he will be required to open and read a selection of the top twenty most repeated (and therefore annoying) threads. He will then be required to complete a short (50 question) examination to ensure he has complete comprehension of the subject matter. The next thing we can do is implement a member rating system similar to the belt system used in the martial arts. Each new member will be required to complete a questionnaire that describes in detail their cigar smoking credentials. This will be useful when evaluating the responses that are posted to the board. I know that I would place much more value in the advice of a black belt smoker versus the advice of yellow belt. We could probably get the good folks at CBid to include a filter that would allow us to screen out comments made by yellow belts so I wouldn't even have to waste my valuable time reading their useless comments. I believe these policy changes will benefit the cigar smoking society as a whole and should be support by every member of this group. Oh, just in case this suggestion has been made in the past and I overlooked it in the archives, please accept my sincerest apologies.
