How did you find DU for the very first time?

[suninvited]

I found it when I started a job with an oil well service company in August of 2006 and I found that when I would sign onto my computer there was always a site called " free republic" in my history (along with drudgereport). I clicked on free republic and after reading it a while, told my boss (the only person that could use my computer), OMG, this is horrible, are republicans really this shallow minded and stupid???

While reading that site, I came upon a link to DU, which was not meant to turn people onto it, it was rather a link to say: Read what these idiots have to say. It was a link to DU, which I didnt even know existed.

How could I not know it existed? I am well read, follow the news, and am a very liberal democrat.

So, to this day, I thank my boss for turning me on to DU, and he always says to me: "get back to work".

How did you find DU?

[Muttocracy]

1. mention of it on the blog for JoeBiden.com led me to his supporters here nt

[suninvited]

4. I have never read JoeBiden.com

I will go check it out !

[Muttocracy]

12. It was his campaign site. Had a nice active blog too.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Now we just have to follow C-Span 2 and biden.senate.gov Has a link to his plan for Iraq, not that it's anywhere as interesting as the regularly scheduled primary mudslinging.

[Swede]

2. Conservative Idiots showed up in a google search.

Been here ever since.

[suninvited]

7. I would have never thought to do such a search

I didnt even know such a site as DU existed ! I should have known.

[ptvet]

3. The Good Folks

at Camp Casey. My first trip to Crawford....

[DarkTirade]

5. I used to frequent a site that allowed the users to post ANYTHING

and there was one guy on there who'd post a lot of left-wing stuff. Occasionally he'd post something from DU. So I discovered DU then. I don't remember if I signed up yet or not. Anyhow, whether I did or not, I forgot about the site for a while. Then I moved in with The Animator (he doesn't post a lot, he's been here years but he's still under 1000 posts), and he reminded me about it. So I either signed up then, or remembered my old SN and started logging in to keep up with the news, since I don't watch news on TV. I don't remember which. :P

Then I discovered the lounge, and started hanging out here on a regular basis. :)

[flvegan]

6. I think mine was a link from Buzzflash, actually.

I still lurves me some Buzzflash.

[SPKrazy]

8. linked from buzzflash.com

[suninvited]

9. Now I wonder why I never heard of buzzflash.com

2 from buzzflash.

[SPKrazy]

13. I don't remember how I found it

linked from somewhere else prolly

it's a good site for news

[Starbucks Anarchist]

29. Same here.

[nam78_two]

10. I think I typed "Bush sucks" in google

And DU was one of the first hits :rofl:....
Obviously it wasn't a serious search-I think I was feeling extra frustrated by something-but glad I found DU that way.
Took me a few years to actually sign up but I started reading some of the regular columns. Funny to think how I never read those that much any more. I used to read the "Hate Mailbag", "Ask Auntie Pinko", "Top 10 conservative idiots" etc. then head to LBN and then GD/GD: P.
My reading patterns changed a lot after I actually signed up.

[suninvited]

11. That deserved 2 !!!!!

I would have never thought about finding a group of like minded people by typing in an opinion !

I have read "ask auntie pinko"

[DarkTirade]

14. The weekly top 10 and the political cartoons that were always posted

on a regular basis were the main thing that kept me coming back for a while. :P

I've always believed that comedy reveals more about what's going on than the serious stuff.

[liberaltrucker]

15. November 14, 2004

I was in a state of severe depression, meds notwithstanding. Somehow, I found
a link to DU from....somewhere, hell in those days alcohol was liberally consumed
among progressives.

Alcohol consumption has decreased since. DU and Effexor XR (150 mg QD) helped me
keep my sanity. To DU, thanks. To Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, your patent expired in
2007. A bit of generic Venlafaxine HCL would be appreciated.

[KamaAina]

16. BuzzFlash linked to Top Ten

and the rest, as the say, is history...

Funny, I haven't been to BuzzFlash in, like, years. Is it even still there?

[sniffa]

24. Yes... and I was lucky enough to get BuzzFlashed 2 weeks ago

:woohoo:

[x-g.o.p.er]

17. I was wandering in the political wilderness

Summer of 2004. I left the Republican party because of Bush, and came over here to see what's up.

I'm still here.

[suninvited]

33. Glad you are !!!

I really enjoy DU, and it is all thanks to everyone here

[sniffa]

18. From the Hated website

They have/had a bunch of links to liberal websites. They had a link for the "Top 10 Idiots" and I clicked on it. I then clicked on it again a few weeks or so later, and realized that it was weekly feature. Once I figured out it was published on Mondays, I started clicking on the link from Hated every Monday. At some point I started navigating the site, and found the message board which I started visiting every day. I tried to join then, but DU had the email registration rule then, and none of my email accounts could be accepted. I eventually started new email accounts at several sites, but those too were not accepted then. Finally, one day in early March of 2004, I saw on the front page a "DU Meet Up" thread in Boston. I finally whipped out my credit card and signed up for a very secure email that I was sure would not get me denied... and I wasn't.

Prior to my finally getting to join, I started emailing (or stalking) Will Pitt, and he tried somewhat to guide me through getting on DU. So I finally joined, in March and kinda made a big splash - most of every response to me was summed up best as, "Freeper Troll!"

So now I'm here. :)

Ps: I went to that meetup and that's when I really became a DUer. The people I met there that day (just a few, and I'm sorry if I left probably a bunch out) were so wonderful, and welcoming, and they made me start to be an active DUer. Some of the people at my first DU meetup: Will Pitt, Matcom, Lynnsin, Ramses, LynzM, Briarius (sorry, what's your new name?), KathyinCambridge, DS1, and many more.

[suninvited]

22. I hope I can go to a meetup someday

I would love to meet the people behind the posts !

[sniffa]

27. I haven't been to one in forever

- and when the fuck was the last Boston one, which are by definition, the best ones - but yes, go out of your way to attend one, and many more. Most of them will be rewarding to you, and that's enough. :)

[Omphaloskepsis]

19. Fark.com

[EstimatedProphet]

20. I looked under my potato

Let's see if anyone gets that joke...

[suninvited]

23. I know I should, but I dont get it

you can fill us in, if you feel so inclined !!

[EstimatedProphet]

32. OK. It's an old one

Hostess: How did you find your steak, Mr. Smith?

Smith: I looked under my potato.

It makes me laugh.

[suninvited]

52. I do like that joke

however, I have often been accused of having a "dry" humor

[NMDemDist2]

21. i googled "John Kerry" in 2004 and the rest was history n/t

[sniffa]

28. I want to call you a newb

but I didn't join until then either.... though I was lurking for god knows how long, and trying my hardest to join. :hi:

[NMDemDist2]

30. well, technically, you beat me by a couple weeks

so I'll answer to 'newb'

:rofl:

[femmocrat]

25. I googled "anti-bush" groups or something like that.

I think it was right after the 2000 travesty... was DU here back then? I joined a long time ago, but lost my name and password and had to re-join. I lurked for a long time, though. LBN was what hooked me.

[suninvited]

26. LBN?

fill me in !

[femmocrat]

37. "Latest Breaking News" (sorry!)

It really does live up to its name!

[Missy Vixen]

31. I saw a sign in the crowd on Inaugural Day 2001

I've been here since.

Julie

[suninvited]

35. oh nooooooooo

I have given a heart or two to everyone that has posted in this thread, but now I have run out. Yours was a very good answer, but I feel bad that I have no more hearts.

Now I will have to go donate again !!!

[momophile]

34. my sister introduced me to it nt

[suninvited]

36. I wonder why no one ever told me about it

since for the last seven years I have only been friends with progressive thinkers...

oh, man, I am so homesick !!!

[Flaxbee]

38. a friend sent me a link to "The Supremos" (which I miss dearly

by the way). This was back in 2002 and I've been squatting here ever since. :D

[lost-in-nj]

39. A repug friend told me to check out

this website where all they do is cry and whine about * and
think they are better than the rest of us........

he linked me to here....


glad I came!!!!





:hi:


lost

[suninvited]

48. How strange

as when I found free republic, I thought....

What a bunch of whiners and cryers.

[begin_within]

40. Turned left at Greenland

[suninvited]

45. Me too !

Unfortunately I wasnt very aware of politics at the time.

I lived in Icedland for three years when I was a young girl. But I landed in Greenland on the way. Bad weather, I think.

[begin_within]

47. This topic comes up about once every six months, and I always answer,

"Turned left at Greenland," but only once was I able to get the first reply in...

[suninvited]

50. are you suggesting that I have an unoriginal topic?

My ego would be very inflated to think that I have come up with a topic no one has thought of yet.

[suninvited]

53. that is a joke, you know

I would not imagine for a minute that I think of something no one else here has thought of !!

[begin_within]

58. Sorry...

I can recall two times since I have been around DU that this same question has been posted --- but, I think it was in GD the last time. There are always new members, so you're giving new people a chance to reply.

[demmiblue]

41. I honestly can't remember.

But I knew that I was hooked when I was devastated by the fact that I couldn't access DU on the eve of the 2004 Presidential election. Instead, I remember watching one of the major news stations online as I was doing homework and hearing about the last voters in Ohio to cast their ballots in the wee hours of the morning (College Park?). I think I began my lurkdoom in August of 2004. I wish I could remember!

[chknltl]

42. I found the DU while researching Depleted Uranium (DU)

I first read about depleted uranium from an article by Leuren Moret in Truthout. I was mortified and felt an urgent need to spread the word, (hence the name: chknltl). I am not sure but I think I found a link to the Democratic Underground somewhere in Truthout...I do know that my first ever thread in the DU was about "DU". I think my first post may have been about "DU" as well.

[suninvited]

43. I might need to learn about depleted uranium myself !

lets hear about it....

:patriot:

[chknltl]

73. Sure

This is the lounge, not a typical topic of discussion here but since you ask nicely.

Depleted Uranium, (DU as it is commonly abbreviated to and for the purposes of this post I'll continue the tradition), is a radioactive waste product which gets re-used as an ammunition. It has the great property as an ammunition of piercing armor like a hot knife through soft butter. It saw a great amount of use in both of the Gulf Wars as well as in Kosovo and Bosnia. As a weapon it is practically a magic bullet, tank armor can hardly resist it. For this reason our military has had somewhat of a love affair with this material. It saw a lot of use by our Warthog anti-tank jets as well as by our Abrams Tanks AND it still I think gets used by the navy in their anti missile, ("R2D2") gatling gun defense systems

There is a serious problem with it though. Even though the radioactivity of this product is quite low, low enough to be physically handled as bullets, (this too is debatable), it still retains SOME radioactivity. That radioactivity over time is VERY VERY hazardous to living organisms. It would be for instance quite deadly over time to have bits of DU in ones body.

The biggest issue from this material comes in two ways. First it gets fired at a high velocity. This causes a portion of it to burn off in flight. That portion is in the form of radioactive particles so fine one could liken it to a gas-like vapor trail...a tracer round does a similar thing. This vapor trail will eventually float to the ground but those particles are still equally radioactive to the parent material. The second issue comes upon impact of the DU rounds. They burn at a extremely high temp. basically burning their way through impacted armor and quite literally cooking everything inside the targeted tank to cinders. (The morbid term "crispy critters" is one which was in common use to describe what was found in the hulks of Iraqi tanks). As the round burns on impact it gives off even more of these fine particles of radioactive material. In BOTH cases this material is called Depleted Uranium Oxide. Most articles refer to this material as DU also but henceforth I will call it "DU-O" in order to avoid any confusion between the two.

The DU-O is the prime problem here. It is far far finer than any talcum powder and easily carried away on the winds. It easily gets into the victims body by just breathing. Once a particle gets in it tends to find a place to lodge, another-words it does not exit as easy as it went in. That is where the real issues start because the radioactivity, though low, persists, literally for hundreds of thousands of years. The effect here is cumulative and over time that one microscopic particle will destroy the tissue which surrounds it. Depending on where it lodges in the human body this affect over time can cause some devastating things to happen. Leukemia and cancer are but two such problems. It also can have profound affects on ones reproduction system: deformed babies are the result here AND I have seen reports of exposed vets re-exposing their loved ones through sex as well.

That is what 1 particle of DU-O can cause, MOST exposed victims will get far FAR more than a single particle. Over time we will see a growth in the numbers of cancers and leukemias among our vets. This is an issue that is well researched by our military but has been swept under the rug and reclassified as PTSD.

That is just our vets I have refered to, the even larger nightmare is what is going on to the the citizens of Iraq who live daily with the risk of exposure. It is my feeling that large portions of Iraq are unfit for human habitation because of DU-O contamination. The birthrate for malformed and dieing babies over in Iraq is beyond abnormally high. The occurances of cancers there has risen to numbers which may be comparable to the survivors of our atomic bomb blasts from WWII!

DU has been classified worldwide as a WMD but the US government has chosen to not recognize it as such. It is an indiscriminate weapon in that it can keep on killing long after the combatants have left the battlefield AND it maims or kills innocent non combatants as well. Truth be told, President bush can be tried as a war criminal for condoning it's use.

There are lots and lots of links if you should wish to seek out more info. I am a fan of a lady named Leuren Moret and an ex-military researcher named Doug Rokke, they have to some degree become the two who speak out the most against the use of DU and the nightmares caused by DU-O.

[Arkansas Granny]

44. It was kind of round-a-bout. I had googled something just

before the 2004 election and wound up at FR. It didn't take long to see that I didn't belong there, but one of the posts mentioned DU. I came over here and lurked for a while before I finally joined up.

[suninvited]

46. The closest to my experience.

In finding DU through FREEPERS.

[LeftyMom]

49. Somebody at the mothering magazine forums used to post links to DU from time to time.

I lurked here a long time before I started posting.

[suninvited]

51. I lurked for about a month, and then I

couldnt keep my mouth shut any longer !

[riderinthestorm]

54. I came from Beliefnet when it was in a very dark corner (before it was a big media hit)

Somebody posted the Top 10 list from DU and I followed the link. I have never been back to Beliefnet since that day.....(it was sooo difficult to use then, and in the Dark Ages mentality wise that it was a complete relief to experience, relatively-speaking, the high tech universe of DU! LOL!)

[suninvited]

81. those damn links !!!!

sometimes I am looking up beer commercials and end up in a site for PETA.

Glad I ended up on DU, though !!!

[RevolutionaryActs]

55. I honestly don't remember.

:rofl:

[Tresalisa]

56. My ex-room mate told me about DU.

I told her I was interested in politics, and she told me about both Kos and DU. I lurked both places for awhile, decided Kos was much too much for me, and decided to sign up here! You lucky DUers!

:blush:

[suninvited]

60. I like KOS, but I didnt find out about it

til I found DU

[Jamastiene]

57. Damn, my memory is bad, but I think I came here from

either TurnLeft.com, or Chuck Zlatkin's Right Is Wrong site. Not sure which, but I was hanging out at those places back then, then once I found DU, I didn't leave. I've been camped out pretty much ever since.

[Fire Walk With Me]

59. Back in the 70's, it was the prize in boxes of Quisp cereal.

(I saw a bumpersticker.)

[suninvited]

61. Are you serious?

I have envisioned my car being clubbed to oblivion after putting on my DU bumper sticker. (If they would send me one, that is)

Never did I imagine that it would enlighten someone.

Not that you were enlightened, I am sure you were a progressive thinker, you just found a like minded group here.

[Fire Walk With Me]

67. Well, a moderately like-minded group...

I'm into things like immediate impeachment and prosecution, immediately ending the Iraq invasion, a real health-care system, an immediate end to the "Patriot Act"...things that don't seem to be hot topics, at least from the two candidate's mouths... I know that many here support those things, but I don't see them holding their candidates' feet the fire about them... Clinton and Obama don't do anthing for me, except to make me wonder how long it will be into their presidency for people here to start posting that they feel let down. Hopefully that won't be the case, but still..

[suninvited]

77. I wish I could speak as intellegently as you !

I have learned to expect great things from you.

[Fire Walk With Me]

88. What, my stream-of-consciousness rambling?

It's easy! It's fun for the entire family!

[suninvited]

62. another dupe

I guess I must be a double clicker

[Guava Jelly]

63. I found it through bartcop.com

About 4 years ago.

[suninvited]

64. Ohhhh, Bartcop...

is very funny !

[FloridaJudy]

91. Another who stumbled on it by way of Bartcop

And found she'd come home.

[Generic Brad]

65. I came every week to read the Top 10 Conservative Idiots

It was about six months before I realized there was more to DU than that feature.

[suninvited]

69. Oh, yes !

I love those.

[CatholicEdHead]

66. Actually from the old Newsmax forum

I was the opposite side there trying to talk sense into them and they always complained about this place so I figured I had to check it out.

[suninvited]

70. kind of how I got here from

Free Republic.

Imagine if you got stuck in the 'wrong' place.

[Dervill Crow]

68. Buzzflash's link to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots.

Strange . . . just this past week I was looking at my year-end statistics from previous years at work today and wondering why I used to get so much more work done. DUH! I used to work through my lunch and breaks, and now I check out LBN.

[suninvited]

95. To be honest, I dont get a whole lot of work done, either

but I am so good at bullshitting. I dont think it matters.

Right?

Freepers need not apply.

[PleadTheFirst]

71. crookdimwit.com

The first blog I ever started reading was a site called crookdimwit.com. It was essentially daily posts from this guy who lived in DC, played video games, did computer graphics for a living and was a political junkie. Essentially, the same could be said to describe me except I live in NJ - so I loved reading this guy's stuff. Anyway, I guess life got the better of crookdimwit's author, and he had to close the blog down for lack of time.

But he had mentioned DU once or twice, so I came here and started lurking. Then eventually, I registered and started (very gradually) posting. I'm still not very vocal, but DU is a daily routine for me.

I'm sure crookdimwit's author still visits DU, but I've never been able to guess what his name is here.

My best to Abby if you read this, man. :toast:

[suninvited]

74. expose yourself crookdimwit !

inquiring minds want to know.

Nice story of your beginning here.

[greenmutha]

72. The day after the GE in 2004. I went to bed positively certain we would be rid of the chimperor.

When I woke up and found out he won - after screaming "NO FUCKING WAY!" - I got on my computer and typed "stolen election" into Google and several hits came back from DU.

I feel like you do, Imagine In Texas. How could I not have known that DU existed?

Chalk it up to living in Utah. :banghead:

[suninvited]

75. I lived in Florida at the time

My boyfriend was ill during the entire year of 2004. I remember him waking from a coma after the 2004 elections, and his first question was always "who is president"?

When I told him that Bush won, he became very irate, and started crying. He told me we were in trouble. I had to call for a nurse to give him an injection of ativan.

I do not think that he knew about DU, but I cant be certain. He was the most intellegent man I have ever known in my life. He probably did.


He died Christmas day, 2004.

[greenmutha]

76. So sorry to hear of your loss!

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[suninvited]

79. I really did not post that for people to be sorry for me

I am not sorry for me, but I do miss him.

The love of my life. My heart, my love, my Steve.

[Oeditpus Rex]

78. I used to hang out in an AOL chat room

with long-time DUer grasswire. There was a lotta political chat in the room, and when my lib'rulness became apparent, she told me I'd probably like it here.



Yeah, well... :shrug:

[suninvited]

80. SO....

I guess you liked it

[Oeditpus Rex]

83. Eh

It has a certain animal charm. :)

[suninvited]

85. I guess the animal charm got me, too

can I ever turn back?

[Oeditpus Rex]

94. Some have

But they haven't been heard from again. :evilgrin:

[suninvited]

100. How do you explain the mysterious

disappearance?

[Oeditpus Rex]

101. They cannot be explained

However, clues left at the scenes might lead us to believe these people have been abducted by beings from a planet made almost entirely of... granite.

:scared:

[Fox Mulder]

82. My mom told me about the Top Ten Conservative Idiots...

and I fell in love with it.

[suninvited]

84. Are you kidding me? Give your mother a

kiss and a hug from all of us here at DU.

[judaspriestess]

86. from a sportsblog that has a political discussion

section and I was one of the few DEMS in there. One of the other Dems in there told me about DU so I came on over.

I was sooned banned from that site because I posted a story (with link) that the pope (john paul) thought bush was the anti-christ.

[suninvited]

89. wow!

I wouldnt mind reading THAT story.

[Whoa_Nelly]

87. Through my sister who is no longer speaking to me

But, hey! Thanks, Sis! :hi: :loveya:

[TrogL]

90. I figured any site Free Republic hated that much must have something to it

[suninvited]

93. That was my reaction

I was so astounded by Free Republic that I would go into a coma just reading their stuff !!!!!!

[Seashell Eyes]

92. I googled "The 700 club" and "idiots"

That led to the discovery of the top ten conservative idiots. :)

[bridgit]

96. It was a link on my husband's old website, a page full of source & research links

[puerco-bellies]

97. During the Selection I would frequent Democrats.com and Buzzflash

Buzzflash had a link to DU. The rest as they say was history.

[orleans]

98. it was fate. n/t

[suninvited]

99. I agree

*I was there, because I was meant to be there!

[orleans]

103. noooo--- i am here because i am meant to be here

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[fortyfeetunder]

102. another newsgroup

was posting the top ten conservative idiots and naturally I wanted to see more...

[enigmatic]

104. maddening

:D

[MikeH]

105. I don't remember exactly how I specifically found DU

I do remember that I discovered it almost right after it came online in January 2001, along with a number of other liberal/progressive sites. I would not remember how I found DU in particular.

I had been concerned and worried about the possibility of * becoming the pResident all throughout the year 2000, and had been following the web site of the group People for the American Way. They had warned about the kind of judges that * would likely appoint to the Supreme Court if he were elected. (As it turned out * was not elected but he became the pResident anyway.)

Eventually I came to discover other liberal web sites, and DU was one of them.

While I first discovered DU almost immediately after it came on line, I first registered in April 2002 and first posted in May 2002.

[Lil Missy]

106. I met someone on a trip to Kansas City wearing a Democratic Underground shirt.

We got to talking. I read here for about a year before I joined.

[Kutjara]

107. I was looking for a site catering to my particular sexual prediliction...

...but, when I Googled the accepted abbreviation for "donkeys, underaged" I ended up here. Fortunately, I found a bigger collection of pervs and weirdos than I could have hoped for in my most fevered dreams, so I stayed.

[harmonicon]

108. a family friend

I think she had some DU thing.... bumper sticker? fridge magnet? who knows.... then I was sent a link to the "top 10", which I've read for years, along with the occasional other thing. When I moved to England last year, I joined so I could discuss American politics, which was a regular thing for me back in the US. Unfortunately, I joined right around primary season, and now 98% of this website is made of people who think democracy is a sport, so I hang out here in the lounge.

[sazemisery]

109. Buzzflash link 2004

Buzzflash Top Ten.

[datasuspect]

110. my parole officer told me about it

[NewWaveChick1981]

111. Back in late 2004, a really good friend of mine asked me if I ever

visited Democratic Underground. Like you, I'm well read, follow the news, and am a very liberal Democrat. However, I had not heard of DU before, and after the first visit, I was hooked. I actually joined in early 2005 after lurking for a few months, and after posting in GD a lot, I finally visited the Lounge. I've stayed in the Lounge ever since! I read GD and GD:P and several other forums, but my home is in the Lounge. :)

[Orsino]

112. My wife and brother kept talking it up. n/t

[TZ]

113. My friend lizerdbits and I used to work together

and she read/posted on DU all the time. Being a liberal Democrat myself, I lurked for a while reading Top 10 Conservative Idiots. Finally after lurking for awhile (having never done the message board thing before I was a bit intimidated) I bit the bullet a little over a year ago. And boy am I happy that I did....:)

[CJCRANE]

114. I became

unemployed in Nov '01 and so had a lot of spare time on my hands. I'd always been interested in conspiracy theories and so ended up googling (or maybe yahooing back in those days) for information about 9/11 and the war on terror. I really wanted to figure out what was going on in the world.

A few different sites popped up such as bartcop and buzzflash and I must have found a link from there. I liked DU because it had the most professional looking user interface and the discussion boards had a lot of content (including news, leaks, rumors, speculation, inside knowledge etc) and were very fast moving.

(I can't remember coming across freerepublic at the time but if I did I probably wrote it off as low-rent and amateurish and never went back).

[Tuesday Afternoon]

115. I came in the back door.

[fight4my3sons]

116. My Aunts told me about it.

[annonymous]

117. Through Buzzflash

They post the Top 10 Conservative Idiots every week. It took a while for me to discover the forums.