"although I don't blast the opinions of what might be more conservative or 'cranky' members of this forum, I value their contributions!
And I'm able to enjoy and roll with them, knowing full well that they utterly dissaprove of some of my attitudes and approaches..."

Mmmm...maybe after another few years of hearing the same crankiness from the same few contributors ad infinitum, you might be slightly less sanguine.

In any case, I would stand by what I said about this initially (on another thread) - the same rants circulate year on year here on Mudcat, but do they actually make a difference out in the real world? Do the crankiest of cranks ever actually make anything happen, or affect any significant change? No - they sourly chew their gums, and believe that the more often they shout the same thing on Mudcat, the truer it becomes - especially when other people finally lose the will to argue with them.

As Ian Anderson advised me recently: the people who pontificate the most (and who tell people like me that we're not allowed to have opinions) actually contribute the least - so ignore them.