Dom's gone :(
 

Im shocked, and sad :(

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Likewise

Below his last Gibraltar post it does refer to a holiday.

I hope it's not permanent :(

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Me too, I only noticed as his avatar had gone, then looked up and saw the dreaded words. This forum is pretty lenient to be fair compared to others so...........

Maybe I could be next :( I think I am on a yellow card.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Gooorn.
Well B........low me down....
I thought this was the Plaza de Toros.......................
M

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Can anybody remember what has been deleted on that last post? Dom could be a bit of a tool at times but I don't remember him ever being particularly objectionable. :confused:

BTW Hope it's not permanent...:fingerscrossed:

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

We can all be tool's when it comes to controversial subjects and don't let go.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Hi I must be missing the point. Is this Domino were talking about and is he on holiday, or taking a break or had a row and decided to stop posting............or something more sinister?

We've had a few good posts and his opinion is valued.... please update

Jon

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Think he's gone for good. The mod who banned him wrote a comment to the tune of "Bye-bye now, you're going on another holiday, and this time there's no return ticket"

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

I can't and don't wish to comment on the Management's recent actions which led to the demise of quite a few formerly regular posters.

I do question why the bannings or whatever can't be more transparent. The moderator from New Zealand is the only one who has attempted, in a small way to explain some of it.

Most of us are normal people, enjoying normal conversations with fellow expats, although the arseholes do come along to disrupt us.

Let's ban them, and tell the normal contributors why they have been banned.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Well the main reason is that the forum rules clearly state that any discussion of moderator actions is against the rules.

The reason for this is that if it was discussed there would be loads of pro and con arguments about whether the mods action was justified. What you never see is the huge amount of discussion that goes on between the various mods about every single situation that might involve a ban, temporary or permanent.

Neither do you see the PMs between the mods and the member asking them to desist from whatever behaviour is being taken issue with.

You do not see the many warnings that are issued to members before such action is taken.

Please try and understand that, apart from the obvious spammer, members are never banned without prior warnings and much consultation between the appropriate mods and with Sue as the forum administrator.

Most of the recent bans have been as a result of members refusing to stop making personal attacks on other members despite individual warnings and many posts from the mods asking this sort of behaviour to stop.

To answer the question about Domino, he was banned temporarily, after previous warnings, for the above reasons for two weeks. Despite that ban, on his return he continued with this behaviour despite three warnings so the ban was made permanent.

I am probably stepping out of line by making this post and I am not prepared to discuss it further on this thread. If you wish to discuss it further please do it by PM to me or Sue.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

;) Can't think who you mean.
Although a couple from across the pond might fit the bill.

But yes, a shame about the missing regulars.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Something weird about public fora is that they can bring out the best and the worst in us. I wonder why, maybe it because one is on a public stage... and feels the weight of the 'worlds' focus on them, evaluating... judging perhaps.

Fred thanks for the explanation, I wasn't following those threads so I missed the discussions that led to this decision. I spend a lot of my time on the Ayamonte thread.... and 'come out' from time to time.

It cant be easy being a mod in certain circumstances, but I appreciate the explanation. In my case we have had a few PM's / thread discussions that were helpful, so I am sorry to see him go.

Jon

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

I'm grateful for your advice Fred. I'm sure most of us regular contributors are.

From our 'side', the contributors, we do form cyber friendships with other members, we post alongside them for years and get to like them, or occasionally hate them, not very often.

So if they bleed, we bleed. And then some of them disappear. If we know why, it's helpful for our peace of mind.

A lot of us are getting on a bit, I've been paying my respects at the tanitorio far too often recently.

I'm sorry, I'm being silly, but is there a graveyard for the banned?

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Thats a good point HBG. Friendships are made.

How about in disciplinary situations when someone is closed down.. you stop posting rights, but keep PM open for say a month, so that people can trade email addresses/contact details? Just a thought.

Jon

PS Based on some of the posts Ive seen especially on PDT, seeing Dom gone, makes me realise that there are people who have avoided that - by the skin of their teeth!

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Maybe a future software version could address this :lol:but the mods have access to the graveyard, ie the list of banned members. 99.9% seem to have Spammer on their headstone!

My final word on this subject. Dom was a great contributor to this forum and I personally appreciated most of his posts but at the end of the day this is a forum that must be controlled by a decent set of rules and for its continued existence members must take the responsibility to abide by those rules.

If they do not, then they will have to accept that their actions will result in the application of those rules.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

I have made a suggestion in the appropriate area if anyone's interested.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

And I'll make another suggestion...

It's really simple, attack the point, not the poster

Yes Dom was a good poster but he was also a person who indulged in personal attacks even when posters were not engaging with him. I avoided interacting with him as I thought he was a bit of a B/S artist but that still did not stop him from making gratuitous nasty posts to me and others.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Agreed.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

That makes a good mantra.

Rosemary

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Whilst like others I agree

Unfortunately some on here twist, wriggle and turn each time their posts are disproved, they then come back for another attack at the subject from a different angle regardless of the number of times they are proved wrong they will never accept that they are.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

You have simply described a discussion. Nobody is obliged to change their mind.

Disagreement with someone doesn't make that person "bad". The personal attacks were silly and juvenile however, with ad hominem ad nauseam. It became impossible to have any real debate at all.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

So a discussion is where someone makes accusations without being able to back them up.
Then when the accusation is disproved they return again with another false accusation.

I always thought a discussion was were people traded ideas with substance that can be proven in order to a least try to reach an accord.

No wonder this forum is loosing it's appeal to many.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

While that is true it very much depends on what the persons view that is being expressed, i.e And I stress this is just an IMO anybody sprouting extreme homophobic, misogynist or racist comments risks to be classified by me as a bad person and I wouldn't even bother debating with them

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Well yes, I can't disagree with that. And I put my hand up to engaging with them because I feel that speaking up is often important. Some views should not go unchallenged.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

You appear to be in agreement with me - ie personal attacks are silly, and a discussion involves the exchange of ideas. Which is exactly what I said.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

LOL I know you do ;) but for myself while I admire people like you who do engage with lowlifes I think there are too many of them to make a difference in any meaningful way.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

I think the wisdom of "speaking up" can be judged against the recent casualties of BE.
There are two sides to any argument, yet only one side seems acceptable.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

That is why I rarely respond to certain posters ;)

Apart from the fact they are a waste of pixels

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

You and me both!

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

I don't think the disappeared disappeared because of their views, but because of the unending personal abuse and silly vendettas.

Re: Dom's gone :(
 

Is this still rumbling on?