I've just approved you, and I bypassed activation, so you shoud be good to go.

The 5 merit thread starter is a long running project, and it is still active, so you are welcome to join that. The 25 merit bonus is a new idea, and I wanted to get the opinion of other members about it. 25 merits is more than I have ever awarded.

I agree with you suggestion about the Economy board, but economy and political are pretty close, and I wanted to support Flying Hellfish with the work he has done to clean up the political board. I haven't looked at economy for quite a while. and the last time I looked it was full of low value spam.