Quote Originally Posted by Garry Walker
Well well. Some points.
1) Lately I was given an infraction by Pino, when I asked for an explanation and for him to show me the quote where I insulted the person I had supposedly insulted (it was good old flat.tyres ), he did not respond to my PM.
2) With Arrows leaving the moderation team, I quite frankly have to say I think the moderation will improve greatly and personal bias will come into play less than it did before. So that is positive.
3) Much like flat.tyres, I also am a direct person and say what I think, without holding back or trying to be "nice". With that certainly sometimes come harsh remarks on people, but when I see someone being so obviously being intellectually dishonest and stupid, I will not hold back. I think that is a very good quality in a person and while in the current nanny state of world, speaking your mind and saying how it really is, is considered a sin, I raise my hands and salute that quality in people. I have no time for mollycoddling, especially when dealing with supposedly adults. My personal view is that the infraction given to Flat.tyres really was not justified, but fair play to the admins, it is not my decision. While I wouldnt encourage swearing, I dont think words such as **** and bull**** are bad at all. You hear language much more colourful in a school-class filled by 11 year olds.

Added to that, Flatty is a good addition, because unlike some "respected" posters here, he usually doesnt run away from a debate when confronted with an opinion contradictory to his. That said, I would be intimidated to debate myself as well

We do tend to sling mud at each other with gay abandon but no matter how heated, I don't think either of us take any personal insult from our exchanges.

I know what you mean about asking for clarification as I too find that frustrating when you ask for justification as to where exactly you have sinned and normally get ignored or pointed at some arbitary post about playing nice. What is "nice" and what is heated debate because sometimes I think Mods tend to be a bit heavy handed if something gets passionate. A bit of sledging, banter or light-hearted mickey taking adds to the colour of the forum in my opinion. If someone was being personally insulting in a bitter way then I could understand it but most of the time it's obvious it's horseplay (apart from to the most sensitive on here )

Let me give you an example. On one heated exchange where someone was being particulaly banal and dogmatic, I suggested to them that they "get a life or get laid" in what was ment to be a spirited dig. [MOD edit] After a discussion with the the member in PM's i wanted to withdraw that comment[/MOD edit]

I then contacted the Mods, explained the situation and asked them to immediatly remove the unintended distressing post which they did and in the process, gave me 3 points

Now, I'm a big boy and 3 points isn't gonna make me curl up in a ball and cry but I think the example clerely demonstrates how the infraction system is being abused. There was no offence ment in the post, no swearing but there was a lighthearted dig that if I remember correctly, was accompanied by smilies to qualify it was not serious.

I suppose we should all remember that big brother is watching and a bit of banter and humour is not tollerated from some members while it seems lying and trolling is perfectly accepted from others