Hi Niteshift,

Well at least you didn't come at me with some demeaning condescending elitist hogwash like Mr. Whitney did. I can respect that.

However, once again there seems to be a disconnect in regards the purpose of my post here. It is not to convince you or anyone else that I am right and you all are wrong. It is simply to display my own personal experience with SOTY which has been positive for many years. All I am saying is that they have always done what they said they would do in regards to my entries and wins. Does that mean you are all wrong. No! It just means that because of my experience with them I don't believe you. Am I going to spend my valuable time researching and finding all this stuff that fits your criteria for changing your opinion? Absolutely not! That is because I really don't care about what you believe to be fact. JPF continues to display an inert need to cement what you say to be fact as the holy grail of truth. But for me, it's your opinion and though you have a right to it, It doesn't mean that I am going to bow down to the JPF proclamation. Instead I assert that I have a right to disagree.

I am reminded of my childhood when a bunch of friends would claim that one of my friends was this terrible person. They would give me all this evidence and witnesses and what not. But if that person had always been cool with me, I was not persuaded to end his friendship. Also, I didn't expect them to change their perceptions of him. For me, personal experience always trumps logic, evidence and all that other stuff. This is not to say that providing all of the evidence you listed is not a compelling argument. Just to say that making you believe is not important enough for me to spend my time trying to find this evidence. I hope this brings clarity to my position on this.

Finally, I joined JPF many years ago and have only occasionally come through. I think this is due to the negativity that seems to be pervasive in this cyber atmosphere. After this latest experience none of you ever have to worry about me coming back with some daring affront to your cemented beliefs. This will be my last post okay? The inferior songwriter has left the building so you can all breathe a sigh of relief. I wish you all continued success in your musical aspirations.

Respect,
Stoneman