Rehi all,
I have decided to come out of semi-retirement...writing posts in the
'Crochet and Cross-stitching' and
'Dental-Flossing Techniques For Domesticated Llamas' forums was never as stimulating and as inspiring as writing here
Nice to see that time has not mellowed Ben and he is as voluble as ever

He seems not to subscribe to the old Tuareg proverb
'There is no need to light a cigarette with a blow-torch'
May he continue to ignore full-stops forever and overlook the virtues of succinctness, amen....
As for being profane and writing sexually im/ex-plicit comments in the lobby as a bannable offence why am I still playing bridge in BBO???
Yet again this thread seems to regurgitate the old chestnut about a fallacious contradiction between what an
individual perceives as acceptable and what a collective has instantiated as unacceptable and impeachable behaviour - a set of rules that i am sure have been debated and discussed and have been endorsed to satisfy the the 'policing' of a community which is both
diverse and
ever-growing. Any society, in whatever context it exists, is going to have rules/laws governing how people are expected to behave and if they dont then there is some punitive redress. TO take this further, those people who seem to go as far as to suggest or insinuate that BBO is some sort of virtual
Orwellian 'Big Brother' society either havent read the book or confused it with
Animal Farm
I personally do not understand some of the arguments put forward by some people, not only here but in similar threads. I am very sure Gweny was very pragmatic and objective in her decision to ban the person in question, and
even if she wasnt* she has been invested with the powers of 'de yellow people' by virtue of her commitment and contribution to this site by those very people who, however dispassionately you view it, have the right to impose whatever they want, assuming they have
the majority of the community's interests at heart.
* this person still has an appeals procedure (s/he should try living in a few countries in this world where s/he hasnt even got this privilege!) and THIS is to protect the rights of the individual and to perhaps rectify potential errors in judgement made by an enforcer, IF they were made! May i just add that if this person was banned, after a review by other yellows it seems, as s/he says
to 2006, then i am QUITE sure it was not for a singular isolated sexist remark!!
I have been asked on a couple of occasions to 'tone down' some of my lobby comments. After a warning i did so (well i just switched to Italian he hee), mainly because, on reflection, i acknowledged that what i had said MAY be perceived by some to have been OTT and they have just as much right as me not to have to read as i have to write...
There is a fine line between what may be construed as banter by some people and what may be understood as (downright) offensive to others. Further, there is some language, attitude and behaviour that, within the largest part of the social spectrum, is considered to be intolerable. Even more so when one considers that a lot of the BBO community's first language is NOT English and thus the opportunity for misunderstanding increases dramatically.
SOMEONE has to take the responsibility of ensuring that a happy medium is reached. I, for one, am not envious of those who have voluntarily decided to wear that mantle. It is a thankless occupation most of the time.
Another microfibre, as it were, of this thread is whether Gweny had the rights of a yellow and/or whether she abused her rights as a tourney yellow????? Whatever she is/was or is/was not, whether a kosher yellow or a yellow
manqué is something that surely is to be determined by the management and not in a forum!! and allow the appropriate people to take the appropriate action. IF, and only IF, she acted outside her realm of influence then i am sure it would be resolved internally and the side-effects of her action reviewed!
Alex