After all of the comments made here at BT2 vilifying John Lester, Braintalk, the moderators, and the wild speculations, the what if's and how come's, the slander, the rock throwing, and the overall griping -- I wouldn't blame John Lester if he just threw up his hands and walked away from Braintalk altogether.

Who would want to spend the time, money and energy to keep Braintalk going after being dragged for days behind this virtual verbal garbage truck?

You wanted an update. You got an update. But, you're not happy with that update. You want more. You aren't happy with the messenger either, so you skewer him as well.

You are perturbed with John Lester because you thought the disks arrived on Sept. 5, and now it's Sept. 18, and still no Braintalk. Just a reminder folks, John Lester isn't your cable guy. He doesn't have to give us a 4 hour window on the necessary repairs.

Put yourselves in John Lester's shoes, and then read the things that you have said about him. What if dozens of people were writing these terrible things about YOU on this or any other discussion forum? How would you feel?

John Lester is a human being, who experiences and feels the same things that you do. He is technologically talented, but he isn't the technology.

You seem to think that he has to explain and defend himself. If I were him, I wouldn't want to face this firing squad now. It's fairly evident that no matter what he says, fault will still be found with him.

Wouldn't you feel awful if you found out that John Lester was ill all of this time, and he didn't say anything, because he didn't want to worry or upset anyone, or because he wanted some privacy?

John isn't our servant or our employee. He doesn't exist to do only our bidding. And he voluntarily created and has sustained Braintalk all of these years. Braintalk isn't his job. Braintalk is what he does in his spare/free time to help us.

He's the reason that every one of us (save a few new non-former BT'ers) are here on this site. If there had not been a Braintalk, there would be no Braintalk 2.

If Braintalk benefits John Lester's career, that's another wonderful outcome of the community, which he established. How can anyone begrudge him that?

Disgruntled folks here are declaring that when/if Braintalk is up and running, they will not return but will stay here at BT2. I'll venture to guess that many of you, who are forswearing returning to Braintalk, will post again there when/if it returns, or at least read there on a regular basis, or use it for information.

It's not as though we have to pay to subscribe to Braintalk. And those of us who donated did so voluntarily to help John and to keep Braintalk available. Typically, when we donate to a charity, we don't expect to get anything in return. But in this case, we did get something: Braintalk.

John is a pioneer. He imagined a need for a place on the internet, where people with (or caring for a loved one with) a neurologic condition could meet and discuss their conditions, treatments, experiences, and feelings. Then he created that place, maintained it, improved it with more features, and found a way to keep it going after he no longer had the MGH umbrella.

Regardless of the reason for Braintalk's downtime or sparse and spare updates, John Lester deserves our gratitude and respect. He certainly doesn't deserve the mistreatment and disdain he has received here on this forum.

Patience and forgiveness are virtues, because they are very difficult to implement. How about if we all work on developing these two virtues? You'll be surprised how much better they will make you feel.

Mama Bear