:(

If so, this saddens me and is a bit of a thorn.

I thought this place was going to be different.

 

I feel gutted to have lost a huge part of my quit circle :(

Guess I'm out of the loop, what's going on?

who?  why?  

Aine and Comrade. :(

No way the Quit Train has suspended people.

 

This place is different.

 

I thought the Riff-Raff was stopped at the door??

Am I next???

Because I agree with their philosophies??

Would like to know what exactly what was said before we judge.

QT HAS suspended them.

Tracey's thread on main titled

What does it take to stay quit

:(

I agreed with them...am I next?

 

It's looking to me like comrade was right.

 

If I have to be part of a herd mentality, I'm out

:(

It's looking to me like comrade was right.

 

If I have to be part of a herd mentality, I'm out

:(

Haven't you read my staircase thread...I am hanging on to you! 

Well....we've had:

People asked to go back and delete/censor their posts.

Suspensions.

Next comes locked threads :(

 

-shaking my head in utter disbelief-

Well Julie, I wasn't going to publicly drag the business of 2 members out onto the forums but since you have, I'll respond.

 

First let me state that I like Comrade and Aine.  They make some very good contributions to this board.  I enjoy much of what they say but that doesn't mean that all the guidelines get tossed out the window because I value their input and I'm certainly not going to walk on eggshells. 

 

Comrade and Aine have been warned numerous times about following our very liberal guidelines.  It is not fair to newbies or guests to have to read about the inevitable downfall of this community, the personal attacks towards other members and the overall contempt they hold towards this board.  I have to ask, why are you here if you hold this place in such contempt?  This is a valid question.  You guys mention Joel quite often.  Do you think he would allow this sort of thing to go on in his forum?  No, of course not.

 

They both have been given a 24/hr suspension to decide if they want to remain members of this community.  There have been no warning points or bans.  There is no "herd" mentality or "conspiracy" going on.  The guidelines are in place for a reason and this is not a free-for-all bash who you want without consequence.  They have publicly stated their contempt for this forum and so they need to decide if they want to stay and follow some very simple, liberal guidelines when posting.

 

I have let all sorts of discussions go on without mentioning a word.  But when something is posted that is intended to hurt others or post after post repeating over and over and over how this forum will fail, that will not be allowed.  How can it be?  Who wants to read that stuff?  This is supposed to be a safe haven, not place that adds stress to our lives.  The membership is free.  I ask of nothing but to follow the guidelines. 

 

Members have asked for a private forum, you got it.  Calendars, you got it.  Blogs, you got it.  The list can go on and on but I will stand for somebody calling for the downfall of this community or repeated attacks against one person or fifty.

 

This forum is very open to all sorts of ideas and discussions.  However, we do not exist to have some great debate over every little issue and have 3 or 4 members gang up one just because they do not believe what that person says or have some kind of personal dislike for that person.  I've watched it since day one.  I've explained the rules over and over to no avail.  Something has to give here, folks.

 

Yes, I've asked one, one person to re-word or remove their negative comments about QSMB after I had repeatedly asked that person to please stop.  There was no ban, suspension or even a warning point given.  Just a simple request and asking that they please refrain from making such comments in the future. 

 

Again, I will not be sued for slander or be known as "the gossip site" because some people have an axe to grind that has nothing to do with me.  It is spelled out numerous times on this forum that negativity towards other quit sites will not be tolerated.  That is why one person was asked to re-word or remove such comments after numerous violations.  This person chose to say in his post that I asked him to remove the comment.  I have no problem with that at all and I thanked him for removing the comment.  It was handled in an adult, mature manner off the board as it should, but someone decided to bring it up in this thread when they were not involved in that discussion in any way shape or form.

 

The fact is that within message forums, sometimes threads get locked and members get banned.  I owned, administered and moderated a high performance automobile message board for over 12 years,  During that time, I can count on one hand the amount of members that were banned and still have a finger or two left over.  Moderating an online community is done for a reason.  Not everybody can be pleased and for that reason, there are other forums out there that may suit your needs much better than this one.  I have not asked anybody to leave nor do I wish them to, but when certain posters continually voice their unhappiness, it's logical that the question be raised as to why they choose to stay?

MQ please point me to where Aine violated any of the liberal rules.

I guess I missed it.

And she NEVER once voiced that she disliked this forum.

Never.

MQ please point me to where Aine violated any of the liberal rules.

I guess I missed it.

 

I'm not going to dredge up and debate this issue as I've given my reasons and if that isn't enough, then I don't know what else to say.  If they want to come back tomorrow, of course they can.  The reasons for their suspensions were different, which were explained to them so please don't assume things that you're not involved in.

 

At other forums you get banned for saying a bad word.  We have an entire ******* thread dedicated to cussing.  Are you kidding me?  If anybody thinks we are remotely the same as other boards then perhaps they should ask themselves what exactly they're looking for in a forum.

 

Ecigs?  Oh no.  What do I endorse about quitting?  I say use whatever method you want to quit!  Stick a rock in your ear, I don't care.  Use an e-cig, I don't care.  All I care about is that people quit smoking and know that they can and even enjoy the process and their lives as a non-smoker.  As I've publicly stated, if a damn e-cig would stop by brother from smoking and eventually get him off nicotine altogether, I'd buy him a case of them.

 

Again, this is all stated here.  Where there is a difference in philosophies, which is to be expected, is after the quit.  Is one happy?  Did they enjoy smoking?  All these things are wide open for interpretation and this is where people get their noses out of joint.  Again, I couldn't give a rat's butt how somebody quits as long as they quit.  But I will stand firm in that everybody can be a happy non-smoker.

Fine.

Admin has spoken.

You won't hear one more word from me on the matter.

Fine.

Admin has spoken.

You won't hear one more word from me on the matter.

 

Thank you.

 

We're here to help and support one another and have some fun along the way. This is your community. Make it count for something.--MarylandQuitter

I have no desire to fan any flames. Part of me is telling myself to avoid this thread and another part of me is saying that if I have something to contribute then I should contribute it.

 

I could analyse the thread post by post - and where offence was caused (inadvertently or intentionally) and where offence may have been taken. As the Master of all Things Pork Bakon mentioned in another thread - words without body language or tone are very easily misinterpreted. My own take is that the offence was not intended - but that is hardly relevant.

 

I could and indeed did post about the validity of a multitude of approaches to this challenge that we all have taken on of quitting smoking.

 

There is nobody that has ever posted on this forum that I 'don't like' or 'block out'. I can say with some assurance that like some other people reading this post - I have read every single thread on the forum.

 

I suspect that as a 'public forum' there is a certain inevitability of 'trial' by public opinion. I would however note that MQ has provided this environment to us for free. He has put in a huge effort to make the environment as welcoming to us as possible, with as few restrictions as possible.

 

I am not party to discussions/PMs/Emails that may or may not have been exchanged between Comrade, Aine and MQ - and I suspect that I never will be. Quite right too. Frankly it is none of my business.

 

I love the Comrade - at first, he scared me a little bit. There is a violence and passion in his writing that I found unnerving. By his own admission, he can be provocative and contrarian. However - I became more comfortable with this as I read more.

 

Aine - her gritty style made some of her early posts incredible. Nowhere did I so clearly feel the gut wrenching craves as I did in her writing. Again, by her own admission, her wit could be acerbic.

 

I enjoy both of their posts - but their writing styles were 'on the edge' and sometimes dark. 

 

Ultimately - in MQs judgement - which actually is the only one that counts - they had stepped outside of the boundaries that have been set. He has spoken to them/e-mailed them (however it works) with his reasons and asked them to take 24 hours to consider whether they want to stay on the board. 

 

I am no genius, but I suspect that this is not a decision that MQ made lightly without a little (a lot of) thought.

 

I am ultimately an idealist - I believe that there is a place on this board for Aine and for Comrade - but in such a way that does not infringe the guidelines. Whether that ideal can be achieved - well that will depend on all of us won't it?

 

I have not spoken with anyone about this issue - by PM or any other method - I communicate through the board as much as possible - because I believe that you guys out there, the people that post their thoughts - are what give me my strength.

 

So - there is my two cents. Two cents from a man in a skirt ;)

I quit reading after the second sentence of any post. Please put important thoughts at beginning for the simple folks.

I quit reading after the second sentence of any post. Please put important thoughts at beginning for the simple folks.

Still in a skirt.

Still not very bright.

Boundaries have been agreed upon and the suspensions are over.  Can we please just get back to normal, whatever that normal is?  I'm not an unreasonable person and I think all parties have made their points and there is no need to not get back to the business at hand.  :)

I just drank a PBR. I am anything but normal.

Meh...normal is overrated

 

;)