"a page view on the Fray is the same as a page view on Slate."

Don't assume that. The ad at the top of this page is not the same for the main page ads. I've not looked into it further than that, but I bet the ads on Hitchens' stories are little more mainstream than "make $900 a day" and "Acai berry diet products". I could be wrong...

What I don't get is the constant line from Slate to BOTF: your opinions about Slate and the Fray don't really matter so just keep quiet. Why bother putting up with it for so long if it is not really valuable? Geoff at least had the balls to say it openly rather than let us figure it out for ourselves via the silent treatment from Slate.

What I also cannot seem to grasp is how Slate (and particularly Geoff) can't seem to understand why BOTFers are so pissed about the current condition of the board. They seem to either not know that it was a very different place, say five years ago, or appear to not know that at all, which is silly. I mean, I know you are still around which ruins it for all of us (tic) but this is not the same board it was in 2003-2004, much less years before that.