I really don't know how much more clearly I can put this, so listen up:longshanks wrote:
The problem here is that those of us who feel that it is in Scotland's peoples' best interests to stay members of the UK have learned from bitter experience (and PP learned the hard way) that expressing Better Together views on this forum only leads to abuse or worse.....even the random deletion of posts or threads or whole sections of our community forum.
Most have taken on board the moderator's confirmation that this community forum is not a democracy.
A group (Seil Supporting The Union Action Group) with which I am marginally involved decided sometime ago not to publicise our proposed events and activities for next September on here for that very reason and to rely on word of mouth instead.
'Blossom' was NOT an independence related issue. If you had read my post correctly, or looked at the review of the book, or indeed done anything other than try to make trouble, you would have realised that. If you look at the first post I said - as per the advert in the Oban Times - The event includes a debating session on Scotland's future. Note the word 'future' - nothing about independence. The discussion was specifically NOT about independence, as anyone who knows anything about the book or Lesley Riddoch's thinking behind it would have realised. The concepts explored in Blossom can be actualised under the present constitutional set-up. I went on to make that clear in another post, and even posted some supplementary information to try to get people interested.
IN particular I refer you to this sentence, which should have gien you a teensy hint that this was not about independence:
Weaving in comparisons with the Nordic nations, Riddoch contends that ordinary Scots have demonstrated their capacity to run Scotland time after time – yet continue to tolerate a remarkably elitist, top-down, centralised, “stand there till we fix you” society that will not change on its own whatever the vote on September 18th 2014.
'Geddit' yet?
And of course, it was Jimcee who brought up the subject of independence first, but how eagerly you seized on his red herring.
It's a pity the pair of you are totally unable to stick to the subject matter of this thread, which was to do with the concepts and ideas expressed in Blossom. The book is concerned with ideas of community, land ownership, personal empowerment etc. The only person at Wednesday's presentation who tried to talk about independence at any length was quietly led away from the subject and back to what the event - and the book - was all about.
We are not currently having a debate on the referendum on this forum - because you, Longshanks, succeeded in shutting it down with your persistent trolling. The last fiasco over the number of people at the YES Scotland march, where you simply posted the same picture again and again and again, was pretty typical of your childish and disruptive behaviour. Many people have told me that the main reason they don't post on this forum any more is because of your personal animosity towards me and the site in general and your persistent attempts to run it down or drown out any discussion with your own personal agenda. Frankly I would rather close the site down than continue to provide a free platform for you to insult me.
However, as that would be rather drastic I have decided simply to ban you for now for 30 days for persistent and unrepentant trolling, as defined in the section with that heading in the forum rules. As you know, this is not a democracy, there is no appeal and getting any of your alter-egos like 'Maggie' to plead for you will only result in that account being banned as well.
I will reinstate the Longshanks persona in the New Year, on the understanding that continued personal criticism of me or the way I run this forum will result in a permanent ban. This is not open to discussion as per the 'back seat moderation' rule and any posts that attempt to bring this up will be summarily deleted.
For the rest of you, the dozens who watch and read but don't post, I will now reinstate the independence forum. Use it wisely or don't use it at all, but do please use it for any posts specifically discussing the independence issue. I may respond occasionally to posts by others, but I will not be initiating any discussions on independence-related issues on the forum. I also promise that any comments or replies I do make - on any subject - will be civil, and of course I expect to be treated in the same way by you. (I've locked all the old posts in the indy forum, so we can start again with a clean slate).
I've also reinstated the Arts Forum in case anyone is feeling creative.
It would be really nice if a few of the large number of people who visit Seil Chat and read but don't post would start - or in some cases resume - participating. Don't use this main section on the forum for posting on specifically independence-related issues. There's plenty of other local stuff to talk about. (Like book launch events in Oban
)This thread is now locked.