This has turned out to be quite funny. More material for the Comedy Central forum.
As for the sharks........I don't even concern myself with the term "sharks". Silly in my opinion.
What it all boils down to is
GREED! Plain and simple.....
GREED!
GREED has destroyed many many things......feuding starts and eventually ends up in wars. Countries have been destroyed over
GREED and power.
As for the article, sure it has aroused some folks curiosity to see what it is all about. All of the doom & gloom or destruction of the hobby talk because of the article is totally nonsense. There have been new folks getting involved into the hobby everyday before the article was ever a thought in the authors mind. I was one of those and there were many many more that came in behind me......again, before the article.
TN is not the only site the covers CRH. There are many more out there....check them out yourself. How many of those in the other sites got involved because of the article.....not many. Again, check them out for yourself.
I get really tickled about how some take this hobby so serious......it's a hobby. It is supposed to be fun. If your not having fun then maybe you should consider something different to entertain yourself. Collect aluminum cans because I don't think there will ever be a shortage of those....ha! Look, we all get our share of skunks.....just part of the hobby.
Alot of folks want CRH to be like some secret society......sshhhhh.....don't mention this to anyone....more for me......
GREED. If that is how you feel.....you should not be involved in any forums. Why are you posting

? Why are you trying to discourage others from posting?.............
GREED.
Again, it is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. It is fun to share the excitement in others finds as well as your own. When someone finds their first Walker, Barber or some nice rare coin or a big load is found....it is suppose to be exciting, but I can see where it might dampen others thoughts because of
GREED.
If your this type there are ways around it.....you have to have a system.....not just a normal pickup and dump system and hope for the best. There are different angles to attack it.....anyway....................................
Personally, I have gotten a couple of people in my area involved in the hobby. You may think I am crazy for doing it, but I am not one that is eaten up with
GREED. If you think it out, there are benefits to this..again, a system...which I am not going to get into details here. Actually, I am having a better year this year than I did last year.....despite the gloom & doom article. How long can this pace continue.....I don't know. As we all know silver is a limited source, but it is always coming back into the system although not as fast as we would like it to.
I stopped posting my finds this year for a couple of reasons. I am reconsidering that issue as I type this.
Anyway, I have rambled on long enough. This post is not directed at any one individual or any set of individuals so don't take any of this personally. I am simply stating how I see things.
Good luck out there and keep plugging.........
BTW - Cat, I apoligize for your post going off in a different direction.