Michael Segal

Please dump the Political stuff !!! This is a South Shore High School information site !!!

Marjorie Webb (Valenti)

We're so glad everyone is still checking out the web site to keep in touch.  It was our hope from the beginning that would be the case.  Sadly, we have no control over what the owners of Class Creator post on their site.  We, like you, abhor the political advertising, but this is how they make their money and allow classes like ours to come together.  After the reunion, we had enough money to pay for a year with no ads.  That time has lapsed, and there is a $200 annual charge to keep the site ad free. Of course, we were not envisioning there would be political ads. Our options are:

1)  Shut down the site

2)  Leave it the way it is and suffer through the next few months.

3)  As individuals, you could contact Class Creator and tell them your objections.   

Sharon Goltz, Bobby Alpert, Margie Valenti

Sherry Weiss (Trimpe)

I agree this is a SSHS site.

Andrew Dosick

Can we discuss raising funds to keep the site ad-free?  Please tell me where I can send the first $50.00.

Nancy Apel (Jones)

you

this is the first time I have seen these ads.thank you for explaining the problem.as long as we ignore the ads and use to keep in contact we should be ok..

i would like to take this moment to wish all of my Jewish classmates a healthy,happy,and prosperous new year 

to you and your families!it is always great to hear from you.

Nancy Apel Jones

Sherry Weiss (Trimpe)

Mark Podolner

Ads are probably necessary to sustain the payment for the web page unless we all contriubute but I am very upset that politically oriented ads with whole opinions are being posted and the points of view expressed are offensive to some. Once again I urge this web page to take off these ads and refund any money received to the advertisers. 

Thanks for bringing this up. 

Mark Podolner

I, too, will donate $50.00 to keep this site ad free - especially political ad, whatever the opinion. 

Mark Podolner

The latest Ron Paul ad is appaling - filled with fringe views about the economy and we need to stop this kind of thing. Before you know it they will be putting Trump ads up there. 

Joan Pantsios

I'm not seeing any of these ads, probably because I have AdBlock installed.  I highly recommend it!

Peggy Brunner (Thurman)

Mark, of ALL people you would be expected to hear all sides, that is the only way to make an informed 

decision! I watch CNBC, CNN and FOX. I know just a little bit about medicine and it scares me that

she obviously has an underlying disease or condition. You do not take blood thinners for the fun of it!

Enough said, I don't care a bit one way or another about ads, just enjoy your life before it is over and keep your mind open too.

Peggy 

Marjorie Webb (Valenti)

Joan Pantsios has the answer!  I just installed AdBlock on my computer and it is a miracle.  All of the ads, offense and not, are gone.  I do encourage all of you who were offended to contact Class Creator and tell them you are disappointed in their choice of ads.  We, the coordinators of the reunion, have no control over this except to close down the site.  I appreciate the willingness of some of you to send money for no advertising, but this is something I don't think is necessary when this free app is available to us to block the ads.  If you choose to use it, it is https://adblockplus.org/

Thanks, Joan.  I had never heard of this.  (Also makes using FB a lot less cumbersome!)  

Ann Kurland (Adler)

I think we should keep all political ads off this site and blocking all ads is probably the correct solution.  But, I think editorial comments by our members serve the same purpose as the ads.  Unless we want to start a discussion about the present election, lets not post comments that demean any of the candidates and their ideas.

Mark Podolner

Marjorie - I have ad blocker and it doesn't block these ads on the South Shore page. I simply cannot imagine why you don't allow us to pay the $200.00 it would take to keep this site ad free. That's probably about $2.00 a person and two of us have already offered $50.00. What's the problem here? 

Peggy - I can assure you that I read extenively on a variety of topics but especially the kinds of economic and political issues that have been placed on this site in the form of ads. These ads do NOT present a variety of points of view. Thus far they have all been right wing fringe points of view that I am very familiar with and find ignorant and offensive. I simply don't think that political ads are appropriate on this web page (whether I agree with the content of them or not), especially when it would be so inexpensive to eliminate the ads altogether.

By the way, I am a happy person and that's largely because I enjoy engaging in the process of critical thinking that has served me well in becoming the kind of involved citizen that helps sustain a democracy. We need people to speak out, without animus, when an individual or group does something we feel is wrong - that is the essence of free speech. But advertising is a different ball of wax altogether. It, too, is protected by the first Ammendment but full disclosure is necessary when a company or an individual is paying to have his/her/it's point of view published somewhere. IF nothing else, the web site should state that it does not necessarily agree with or support the content of these ads. Otherwise it appears as if the SSHS reunion web site supports things like returning our economy back to the gold standard - a point of view that no responsible economist advocates any longer. There are lots of other kinds of ads for various products that wouldn't be objectionable, if for reasons that are incomprehensible to me, we continue allowing  ads to be placed at all. 

Thank you for stating your opinion about the ads and recommendations for how I should accept them but I couldn't disagree with you more and telling people to get ad blocker is put the responsibility in the wrong place. 

Mark Podolner

Ann - I understand your objection to my classification of Rand Paul's point of view as "reactionary". That's exactly why we shouldn't have such controversial points of view on a site dedicated to keeping SSHS 65 graduates together. Who needs yet another polarized political debate?  

Michael Klaper

If Andy Dosick and Mark Podolner are willing to contribute $50 each towards the $200 to keep the SSHS site ad-free, I'll gladly contriubute the remaining $100. Please tell me where to send the check.

Let's not let this rancorous political season cause any rifts in the loving fabric woven among us all during our years at South Shore.

Marjorie Webb (Valenti)

I have sent Michael, Andy and Mark personal e-mails with my information.   Thanks.

Margie

Peggy Brunner (Thurman)

Hey guys, "Man Up". So, you mean after living ALL THESE YEARS you are going to pay to quell free speech? No wonder so many classmates felt like they did. This wispy washy talk like we were all so close is BS. I remember many students that were made fun of and YES Caroline Merbitz was just one. Now it's like we are at a funeral for someone who was really mean but we are not going to speak ill of the dead. People were nice to me but I remember how many were treated. Guess I was right all along....

Twenty years in elected office gave me thick skin and helped call out those with agendas, yep I helped many people because I spoke up and I will continue to speak up especially for those who do not have a voice.

Peggy Brunner-Maruthur

Sander Heilig

Now we appear to be getting somewhere beyond comfortable feel good beliefs and the guiding hand of liberal facism. When we assume personal responsibility for what we read or hear then we are not victimized by propaganda or censorship. It's just more stuff, mind stuff, opinions, being right to dominate others or to avoid domination. Dr. Klaper knows as well as anyone I've met that what matters is our conscious awareness of the moment when we choose to be, not better, but our higher self.

Oh, and those ads about improving your golf swing - complete nonsense. Everyone I played golf with in high school cheated so I gave up the game.

Sander Heilig

Oh dear. I just misspelled fascism. I'm in real trouble now.

Mark Podolner

Peggy - 

Saying that we should "man up" and agree with you is truly sexist and offensive. No one is suggesting censorship so you are making some kind of straw man argument. What a number of us want to change is having paid advertising on the South Shore site that we have no control over. All it takes is $200.00 to pay for the web site for the year and we have already raised that amount. Once the checks are sent in we can be ad free. You can do the same thing with a service like Pandora - have your music interrupted by ads or pay to not have advertising. There's nothing repressive about it - it simply makes sense for a social site like this not to have political ads in an era of extreme polarization in this country, and if we can have no ads at all, that's even better. 

Of course, you can continue to say anything you want on this site so no one is censoring you or anyone else. However, I think it is wise to keep away from politics and stick to our social connections as a cohort that graduated at the same time in the same place. I am a very political person but I have seen the harm it creates on social media sites. So, for example, I have a facebook page called Thoughtful Aging which absolutely prohibits political posts. On the other hand, if you want to talk politics you can join me on my facebook page, which is where I think such commentary belongs. 

Nancy Apel (Jones)

hi thank you guys for paying to keep the ads off.i really don't think any of us want to talk politics on this site.it is always great to hear about his you are all doing.i hope we can keep this site up long term.thank you Margie and all the people who set it up.yes Peggy i am well aware of people not being treated nicely and we all know who the guilty parties are but we are adults now.peggy please read my memorial for Caroline.caroline was in my division and she was a sweet but shy girl.

Peggy Brunner (Thurman)

Nancy,

That's right we are adults now. Mature adults don't just age they learn from life experiences.

Pretending that things that really happened did to happen is an injustice to those that endured

inexcusable behavior. As they say to fix a problem you must acknowledge it first. Caroline &

I rode the 75th Street bus everyday. She cried a lot, so I am NOT going to pretend she did not

know who her perpetrators were. I did read what you wrote and it was beautiful, thanks. 

Apeasing people does not work, it helps them grow. Example: England and the Nazis, bad.

Thank God for Churchill. Yes, we are adults but not sheep. When you have backbone and character

even if it means insults and loss of the "sheep" you will grow and become respected by those of 

character and moral fiber. You are nice Nancy but you do not have to be nice when people are

unkind and ignorant about their behavior. Sorry. I could not see you at our reunion...

Peggy Brunner-Thurman

Paul Kerman (Margievalenti@gmail. Com)

Hi all,

I have been following the discussion recently. I have not encountered any ads, but the conversation makes me think that eventually some of the "frat boys" who were six months ahead of us might be dying to chime in with, "Lodge is mellow, Lodge is a mellow fellow..." For some reason, I never forgot that assembly.

While I'm not a "regular" on the site, at this stage of our lives, maybe we should be grateful we survived this long and keep the discourse friendly and light.

Nancy Apel (Jones)

Hi paul it is good to see you here.i am happy that the ads are gone.i want to thank you guys for paying to take it down.this company just thought about money and not people.we need to keep this site what it was meant to be.a place where we can communicate with each other.remember we don't have our parents living in the neighborhood anymore.now that we are going on 70-wow!!it is great to be alive and healthy to enjoy each other.i am very happy to be cancer free almost 7years.many of us may or may not agree on politics but this should not be the form.there is enough going on fb etc..I never was in Caroline's situation but I understood it.i left my childhood friends mid year of 8th grade.it is very difficult to leave everyone behind.i will always be thankful to norm Gordon Marlene novick and Barbara garmisa for their friendship and kindness.i wasn't ignored or treated meaningly but it would have nice if people were friendlier.i had a wonderful time in high school and have great memories.i always treated people kindly but I was also aware of Caroline.we never shared any classes and since my last name began with an a I didn't get to know all the people sitting on the other side.the good and bad side is that I always had to be prepared and any critic I received from teachers the other kids were able to use to their own good.not always good for me.that is life!at every reunion we had I always thought about her and I hope I have made Caroline wherever she is happier that people did love her and cared about her.so let's use this to be kinder to each other.remember we are family! I want to wish all of my Jewish classmates a happy healthy and prosperous new year to you and your family.i was looking forward to see you and Marsha at our reunion.peggy send Marcia my love.