To exclude or demean others is to abandon reasoned inquiry for dogma or prejudice. You are lucky you are still here.

partly for low quality, and partly for obnoxiousness, — Jamal

:up: Yes please, thank you. If you're going to be obnoxious, you gotta have some class.

Generally speaking—from the limited exposure I have to his content—I never found anything objectionable. A bit more casual (as opposed to formal) than most, I suppose. Seemed to know all the lingo, at least. More so than myself.

Still, what people need to remember is at the end of the day, this is somebody else's house. He can make the rules, fair or not, and he can enforce them, selectively or not. If you get too comfortable you forget the reality of the place you willingly choose to frequent, that's hardly anybody's fault but one's own.

I think it's $50 a month to get a PlushForums subscription and maybe under an hour of work total to get an identical setup to this forum of your own going. No one can stop you from doing so if you so desire. Not me, not Jamal, nor any other site or staff member.

At the risk of adding to what I suspect might simply be a bad day or week, I feel a question at least on a few member's minds might be: Are you just having a bad day, @Jamal? Or has this been brewing for some time? :chin:

To some of us, this is much more than a website to waste time or "shoot the shit" on. More than a casual hobby or past time but an active part of one's life and between some of us almost like a club of distant pen pals (I'm trying to avoid saying "like a family" because that's simply not accurate for the majority of posters). My point is, participation on this site is important to some people more so than you might think. We're all real people with real lives and real feelings. Please remember that @Jamal, and if you ever want someone to talk to, particularly a stranger you won't ever have to meet or talk to ever again (you'd be surprised how almost natural it is to open up to someone like that), private message me anytime. :smile:

To some of us, this is much more than a website to waste time or "shoot the shit" on. More than a casual hobby or past time but an active part of one's life and between some of us almost like a club of distant pen pals (I'm trying to avoid saying "like a family" because that's simply not accurate for the majority of posters). My point is, participation on this site is important to some people more so than you might think. We're all real people with real lives and real feelings. Please remember that Jamal — Outlander

What do you think follows from this? That I should never ban anyone? On the contrary, it is because I want to maintain and improve the community that I have to get rid of members who make the experience of being here worse.

Blah blah blah blah-blah bl-ba-blah blah. — Harry Hindu

I must say that personally I would take no offence at all to that response. It’s probably even fair.

But then I’m guilty of enjoying the knockabout character of the debates here. I happened to stumble on an old thread the other day and remembered how much I miss The Great Whatever and even StreetlightX.

The modding here is relaxed so other things may have weighed heavier. But for my part, I don’t see any great reason for the ban.

If you think Harry was in the same league as The Great Whatever and StreetlightX, I can only assume you didn't interact with him much.

:up:

Jamal provides a great service and can maintain the site precisely how he sees fit. We ought to defend and respect his right to do so, even if it means our own banning.

Yes, Streetlight in particular was a genuine intellect. I always saw Harry as an annoying contrarian.

Personally, I am content to ignore when it seems necessary, and I'm like apo in not being concerned by the "knockabout" character of this site, but I can also see that I may well feel differently if I were the creator and financial sustainer.

I think you do a great job in providing an enjoyable resource Jamal.

I did interact with him a lot. And no he wasn’t in the same league. I’m not contesting your decision, just speaking up for Harry in terms of my experience. And the fair thing to say is that I have had no problem with him myself.

And i echo the others saying you are doing a good job. :up:

I always saw Harry as an annoying contrarian hack. — Janus

Our eyes coincide.

Relax guys; you're in a safe posada. :smile:

If you behave, there will not be any problem.

I met wonderful people here, like @Agent Smith and @karl stone, but it is true that they behaved weirdly, and the result was their banning. It hurt me, but I understood that we should respect the place if we want a harmony amongst us while we are interacting.

The banning tool is complex and often not welcomed, but it is necessary. Even the Principality of Sealand –where only two lads live–, has rules, standards and all. Why should the absence of righteousness be tolerated here?

Yes please, thank you. If you're going to be obnoxious, you gotta have some class. — unenlightened

Yes. I do my best to make my obnoxiousness high-quality.

Relax guys; you're in a safe posada. :smile:

If you behave, there will not be any problem. — javi2541997

Yes, I think that’s the motto of the justice department and ICE here in the United States.

Well you get some points for effort, I suppose. :cool:

ICE — T Clark

Vanilla ICE! Clarky, this is my favourite flavour. :razz:

Stop posturing Leon. — Jamal

I am not posturing. Stop insulting me.

Blah blah blah blah-blah bl-ba-blah blah. — Harry Hindu

A TPF search for "blah blah" yields 608 results.

I never read the guy's posts, but his quality seems to have been consistent for quite a long time.

To exclude or demean others is to abandon reasoned inquiry for dogma or prejudice. You are lucky you are still here. — Jamal

If we are not allowed to question the sexual ethics of Western Europe, then we will not question the sexual ethics of Western Europe. But that sort of a rule should be made explicit. I don't see how those who question the sexual ethics of Western Europe can simply be threatened or banned for "abandoning reason." There are lots of people from other regions of the world on TPF.

Harry could never get past seeing language as nothing but reference, which made his posts somewhat monotonous and off-point. But I pretty much concur with his critique of @apokrisis. :wink:

As I've said elsewhere, were I running this forum there would be far fewer members and more esoteric threads, which would be much less fun. That the forum exists at all is quite astonishing.

It's Jamal's forum. He will do as he sees fit. The most we lesser creatures may do is to be grateful we are permitted the occasional whinge, as in this very thread. And if you don't like it, there's the door.

Harry could never get past seeing language as nothing but reference — Banno

Language is the house of Being, so he don't belong in the house?

his posts somewhat monotonous and off-point. — Banno

I love how you like stirring the pot. :smirk:

Damn, I did not know. The exchanges I've had with him were serious and substantive, but I didn't read all his posts or follow him at all. Good to know.

All in all- and yeah it sounds like I'm being a "teachers pet" - you folks do a fine job moderating here.

No one important.

:gasp:

When you are banned can you still read threads like this?

Yes. (Right click on top site logo -> Open in new private window [you will be not logged in and so can see what non-members see]).

I found Harry difficult to engage with, but for whatever reason he was never outright rude to me. Since I therefore rarely read his posts, I have no opinion about his ban-worthiness.

Banning is a difficult decision -- I believe you mods always give warnings to possible infringers? -- and I'm grateful that you and the other mods are keeping an eye. Thank you.

(I don't see the need for more specific TPF rules. The picture of what's inappropriate is pretty clear.)

Yes. You don't have to be signed in to see it.