[SpiralOcean]

The way I handle this is:
if a project is stalled, I want to know about it and add actions to it to move it toward completion. Personally, I use a modified version of Curt's Stalled script to find stalled projects and stalled actions groups (an action group that has no children).

Everyday, I run the script to find projects & action groups that are stalled. If I find some that are stalled, I either complete them or add actions to them. Then they are not stalled and moving forward.

A stalled project is an active one, but has no chance of moving toward completion.

To sum up:
An active project is one that I am moving forward on; trying to complete. If an active project is stalled, I want to know about it and add actions to get it moving again.

If I am not planning on immediately moving on a project, I change the status to Hold. (Someday/Maybe in GTD terms)

For me, a stalled project is:
A project with no actions
A project with action groups and no actions
A project with actions that have no context

A stalled action group is:
An action group with no child actions.
An action group with a child action group that has no child actions.
An action group with a child action that has no context

-Project A -stalled-
--Action A (no context) -stalled-

-Project A -stalled-
--Action group A -stalled-

-Project A -stalled-
--Action group A -stalled-
---Action (no context) -stalled-

-Project A (parellel)
--Action group A -stalled-
---Action (no context) -stalled-
--Action group B
---Action with context

-Project A (sequential) -stalled-
--Action group A -stalled-
---Action (no context) -stalled-
--Action group B
---Action with context