Good to have you with us. OUR numbers here at DU keep growing, too. As do the benefits! Lots of helpful people here (so obviously you fit right in) and so many who bring such lavish wealth of perspective and expertise to this community!
Its like our very own think tank. We have scholars and academics, legal eagles and governmental insiders, writers and journalists, scientists and researchers, experts and practitioners in umpteen different fields, doctors and other medical people, students and teachers in all fields, moms and dads, aunts and uncles and grandparents, the military - current and retired, artists and performers of every stripe, people from every corner of the globe, every color of skin, every age, every sexual persuasion, every social and income level, and every slice of every political pie. Multiple languages are used and spoken, multiple faiths and belief systems, and NON-believers of all kinds. Philosophers and thinkers, tastemakers and opinion-makers, historians, longtime activists and newbies, athletes, sports freaks, the physically active and the disabled, every category of worker and business owner, volunteers, and hobbyists of all kinds. WE are the rainbow here. Its an embarrassment of riches. Everybody had something of value to bring to our increasingly large and ever-expanding table.
I learn something new here, pretty much every day.