This site's theme has always been about the XT and close relatives. Which I deeply respect. People visit here to talk about their bikes, riding, performance upgrades, maintenance and repair issues to name a few. And many (I suspect) would like to stay on those points.

I'd like to open a special politics forum based on some posts I've been reading. Our upcoming election is very important and respectful discussions can help us all engage in the democratic process. The international perspective is also valuable. How those outside the USA see us and could advise us is important. Main stream news and journalism are pretty much gone.

I will or will not open such a temporary forum based on how our group feels. As I perfectly understand people don't come here to talk politics. But many here are friends and seem comfortable with such discussions. Obviously such a forum is read by only those with interest. I'd locate it at the bottom of the forums list so it's out of the way. My read is we could pull this off and do so respectfully and bring some value added.

Thoughts, opinions, ideas and suggestions always welcome. I, of course, will honor the group's wishes. The old board used to have a poll feature which was anonymous so that might be a way to see how people feel. Like many of these blogs, there are many more readers than posters. Just an idea I had. Good, bad, ugly?

Good idea. It would provide a place in which political discussion is encouraged, which we need more of these days, not less. The key will be to express opinions and viewpoints respectfully, thoughtfully, without berating or belittling others and their view points while dealing factually with topics at hand.

Discussing politics is fun until disagreements turn into personal attacks, name calling etc. If you start a political forum, I'll take a look.

Fine with me, just set some strict ground rules and stick with them.

OK Thanks for the input. Yes if this moves forward it will do so less any insults and name calling. The goal is to increase awareness on important issues and promote our 1st amendment rights to peaceably assemble (virtually here). Many here can do that respectfully from both sides less any nasty rhetoric. So insults and personal attacks won't be part of this thread. A little kidding around and poking some fun is fine. We'll let this thread soak in for a while and get more input. If it's one of those roads to hell paved with the best of intentions, there's always the delete key.

Well up above here it was asked how do those outside view what is going on in the US. I'm in Australia, and in the last several years I've not come across a single person, from the conservative to the opposite side of the spectrum who has not expressed astonishment about the behaviour of your current leadership. And not once in support I should clarify.
With your pandemic dead rapidly escalating to 200,000 people, the pro-rata ratio is 31 dead Americans for every Australian. That a pandemic could be politicised the way it has in your country is unthinkable here, where state and federal governments of all stripes have bowed to the science, and there is unanimity that this is a serious matter and that medicos, not politicians, have the best advice.

We watch daily your rising numbers, and it is a spectacular failure of leadership that puts the US on par with places like India, Brazil and Mexico. I never could have thought that the US could ever have gotten into this position.

@TwoUp : You will find that millions in this country agree with you. Of course millions of others don't. On November 3 we will see which group is larger.

Is gun ownership increasing in Australia?

Guns exist here, but not the AK47 assault types or any semi-automatics, but guns in general do not feature much in daily life. If I were to go to a large bike event with a few hundred riding out in the back blocks, the chances that even one of them carrying a gun would be zero, and if word got around that someone did, in all probability he would be ejected.
I know a few people who own a gun or two, one who is in a gun club with a shooting range that he attends occasionally, a cousin who lives on a large sheep station, what you would call a ranch, to deal with foxes etc, and one more who I've never seen take a gun out of the gun closet.
If someone were to walk down a street with a gun, people would be ringing triple-zero immediately and police would descend on the guy and get him off the street as a public menace. It's not something anyone here would put up with. We had a massacre here in 1996 by a mentally unstable guy, and a conservative government banned and bought all semi-automatics and automatics, paid market price for them, and we've not had a similar event in the past 24 years. The shooter has been in a prison for the mentally disturbed ever since.

1. I think the numbers of deaths directly due to coronavirus in the US are highly inflated. My sister has worked in a hospital in Illinois for many years; she tells me that the hospitals have a big financial incentive to list a death as a coronavirus. You may have noticed that most of the people dying from this virus are old, with "compromised" immune systems. In other words, these people are on the verge of dying anyway. According to my sister, if they have a patient with lung cancer (for instance) and has been on his deathbed for weeks, once that person finally passes if the hospital can find any reason to list this as a coronavirus death they do so. If that patient exhibits ANY one symptom of coronavirus, then coronavirus is listed as the cause of death and NOT lung cancer. I think this skewing of the statistics is going on all over the US.

2. I don't believe comparing the death rate in the US to other countries is valid. Here, we have the press shouting up all the coronavirus statistics - and I think they'll focus on that until after the election. How do we know the statistics provided by the US and other countries are valid?? Do you really think the stats provided by China, Russia, and any number of other countries are accurate - or are they what the powers that be want to release to the world to make themselves look good? For that matter, how do you know the stats YOUR government provides are accurate?