11007 Lovely Christmas Present Perhaps

Thought that would appeal to you Gala!!!

He's bloody SPANISH!!!!!!!!! :realmad:

Neither kind, nor nice, JC. If you look at the source of the news quoted by Sally, you can read ANSA.it, so it comes from Italy.
Besides, the late Pope was the Bishop of Rome, as it is customary for all the Popes. Or have they moved to Avignon, again?????

Wait a second Gala. Does that mean unless you are Bishop Of Rome you cannot become Pope so there needn't be the Papal Conclave . Or is it that if you are not Bishop Of Rome after becoming Pope you are automatically elected Bishop Of Rome thereafter???

Gala, I know it's not kind - I don't do kind when someone continually floods this place with crap just for the sake of posting. People are frustrated Gala - I voice the frustrations so that no one else has to - and therefore, they don't run the risk of getting their bums smacked. My backside is made of tough old shoe leather and has been battered on many an ocassion here.

All people want is some small consideration and aforethought about what is posted, rather than yet another link, a cut and paste or a totally useless self serving post. We are losing and alienating old and new members - some have confided privately the reason they no longer post and some have posted openly about this constant deluge of posts that are not appreciated. It's an ongoing long standing problem that has continued to divide this forum and perhaps it's time it was brought out into the open for a frank and honest discussion.

I am short tempered - more than most - when it comes to the way Sally posts - but with good reason (which you may or may not believe) and I do not want to be banned from this forum (again) as I enjoy reading and contributing wherever I can. I often make fun or a joke of certain situations, but I engage totally in the forum on a personal level wherever possible and really try hard to make what I post on this forum interesting for others to read at least some of the time.

You may say (and please feel free to do so) that her style (or lack of) is my problem and that I should "learn to live with it", but I say it is not only my problem - it is a problem many of the regular members have with this style of posting and it should stop - or at least be curbed. It is pointless entering into dialogue with Sally as this has been attempted numerous times by others here - only for her to completely ignore the topic and show incredible disdain by obviously reading the thread concerned, refusing to reply and then posting something in the very same thread to show everyone that she has no intention of modifying her behaviour.

Others see the same things I see Gala - and they are probably exactly the same things you see - we see the way she constantly "grazies" you - we see the dialogue between you and her and although I have no doubt your intentions are to be friendly and polite to all and sundry, we have all seen Sally follow other members around the forum in the past - so much so that one member openly requested (several times) that she stop doing it. People have been discrete, blunt - understanding - caring - blatent - patient and downright rude in an attempt to see some type of change - all to no avail but in the vague hope that she will finally understand that there is room for everyone in this forum - even un idiota con un'intelligenza molto inferiore alla media!

I'm really very sorry Gala, I am not directing this at you in any way and it is a shame that this has happened within this thread (but where else should I have replied?), but if Sally has the right to continually behave in this way - then I and others should have the right to complain about it.

Even more perfect Christmas present. I know a few nuns who would just love this!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN9cGpSoR-Q]YouTube - "The Priests" Sign $2 Mio Contract To Record Christian Music[/ame]

JC, I hate tensions and fights in the Forum (or anywhere) and I think that if we all practice a bit of tolerance and goodwill to each other, all this can be easily avoided. You are right by saying that Sally befriends me, although I have never met her personally, and I treasure her friendship as I would do with anyone else's in the Forum who wants to communicate and share things with me...and there are quite a few others. But I strongly dislike cliques. You may have noticed that I use quite a bit the "grazie" button, but I do this in a very general manner, with a great variety of members, whenever I am grateful for any information which I feel is useful or interesting. Most of the times, it is easier to simply say "grazie" than to write a full reply.
If some people do leave the Forum, it may be for a variety of reasons and you cannot blame just one person. It would not be fair.
I believe in being polite and courteous at all times. I am not the type of person who will stir up a fight or start asking moderators or admin to intervene. I can have a discussion with anyone, even a fiery one, but always within limits and in an educated manner. Sometimes there has been bullying in the Forum and some members have not shown enough respect for others. I strongly believe in respecting other people's thoughts, even if we do not necessarily agree with them.
What I would like to see is less sarcasm and a bit more of tolerance and goodwill towards others.
I offer my friendship and support to everyone who wishes to accept them. I do it with an open heart and I only ask for sincerity and reciprocal respect in return.

I think Gala is right in her post, and its obvious that Sal annoys you J&C, so would it not be better to put her on your ignore list?, actually I enjoy her clips and Ytube offerings, and it doesnt bother me in the slightest, but I guess if I were honest there are bound to be people whose style of posting or its content I dont appreciate and usually manage to ignore it, other than a "oh not you again."and I suppose it is possible from the grazias to devine some sort of clique without too much trouble.But really so what?, you say you are happy to be back and accepted on the forum, and I do enjoy most of your posts, long may they continue, but targeting Sal is probably not the best way to go, perhaps I should have put this in a pm, but as you have gone public!
A

[quote=Sally Donaldson;103733]Wait a second Gala. Does that mean unless you are Bishop Of Rome you cannot become Pope so there needn't be the Papal Conclave . Or is it that if you are not Bishop Of Rome after becoming Pope you are automatically elected Bishop Of Rome thereafter???[/quote]

I was going to write quite a few things about this topic; however, you have a good explanation here:

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_of_Rome]Bishop of Rome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]

I may add that Rome's Cathedral, or "chair" for the Bishop of Rome is St John in Lateran. The Pope has his teaching "cathedra" (from the Greek "kathedra" or chair) located there. The word cathedral reflects that status. It is always the "chair" or pulpit of a Bishop.
I hope this helps.

I have tried not to become involved and I myself am trying very hard not to rise to Sally’s constant asides and remarks. I wish I had your tolerance Angie and Gala. Possibly the fact that you have not been targeted makes it easier to ignore.

Anyway I think you are right and although Sally disrupts threads, indulges in private conversations in the middle of things and is on Julian’s case, rising to her bate just gives her what she wants and makes her feel important.

I enjoy Julian’s posts and would be really sad if Sally managed to reduce the active membership further.

As you say the ignore list is a wonderful thing.

I believe that a Forum needs many voices, all different, to make it interesting. It is up to the individual to choose what he/she enjoys reading. It is our right. If we all say or think in the same way, then the Forum will be dead. What we need is variety and this is enriching us.

Angie, don't worry about "going public" and point taken about the ignore list, but it's not just about the Youtube or Google links - they are useful tools at times. It's the demands not to take a thread off topic - we all then watch with amazement as she does exactly that! Example - the Christmas decoration thread - to name just one of many! It's about the snide use of the PM system - it's about the constant editing - the deletion of posts that change the whole thread meaning and present her in a positive light after everyone else has moved on - it's about the posts that are deleted and/or edited into something else once she believes the person her comment was intended for has read it - it's about goading people into posting against her. It's about the level of frustration she stirs up when all she has to do is put her brain into gear before posting and to lay off with the antagonistic posts - many of which are not even aimed towards me - but towards others who are too polite (or too worried about being banned) to answer her back.

Gala - all that you say I agree with and commend you - sincerely - and I also thank you for your gentle reply. I accept you would like to befriend all here and that is galant, but unfortunately, I am unable to show the same continued extent of tolerance and goodwill towards Sallys style of posting as you, but please don't think I want to denigrate the friendship you have shown Sally in any way.

This is not about forming or condoning cliques - it is about frustration with a member who, on many occasions plays the victim and manipulates posts - often by editing - into appearing innocent. We only have to go back over the threads made in the last few days to see how many others read some of Sallys numerous posts as antagonistic and/or useless. Take for example her post today where she says I am in Viterbo - she knows very well that I am not - and so when I read this I get angry and throw some sarcasm back her way.

How about the post where she states traditional is "passe" - it was a direct insult towards another member and to think it was not, would be naive. Tit for tat - childish and unproductive - and it's not just me complaining about it this time - is it?

I ducked and dived Sally outing who I am on this forum for many, many months - numerous posts where she "slips up" and drops her accidental clanger - and yet, since I took the bull by the horns and outed my real identity - she has not made one single "mistake" - she now refers to me as J+C every single time. Strange that innit? It's not just me she does it with either - others have renamed themselves in order to start afresh - but Sally made it her life work to make sure they were outed! Why? Simple - she thinks she is cleverer than she really is and perhaps doesn't realise that it pushes a lot of people up the wrong way.

Many can read the manipulation within her posts - it becomes annoying and eventually I retaliate - even though I do often try to let Sally know through humour first that she is getting carried away again and oversteping the invisible line. This is not my line - I do not decide where that line is - it is the forums line - decided on by the members - a self policing line.

I could quote thousands of examples - but most will know what they are. I am not complaining just for my own reasons, but also on behalf of others. I don't actually want to see Sally ganged up on again - I was a ringleader in that scenario previously and it served no purpose - except to boost her grazies to almost 3,000 and to relieve tension among a few of the old regs, the majority of who are no longer here - but - and this is an important but - the new moans and groans are not coming from the old timers (apart from me) this time - they are coming from new members who have no previous knowledge of forum history and also from members who never got involved before. People are fed up with it.

I would also like the make it clear that I do not blame Sally for people leaving the forum - you are right - there are a variety of reasons, most of which we shall never know. I was only speaking about the people who have left (or at least no longer post) that have let me know privately they can take no more of this banal posting style. Obviously, I can not name them so I can only trust that you believe me.

As her friend Gala, I wonder if you could counsel Sally into adopting a more acceptable and harmonious style - and seeing as this is a "religious" thread of sorts, you may get a little devine intervention from the power above to help you succeed where many angels have trod before - and failed. (Is trod a word?) :smile:

As I said before, I do not like the idea of seeing anyone leaving the Forum for any reasons. Variety is most important and with our different personalities, knowledge, tastes, skills, etc... or lack of them, we can make this a wonderful meeting place. It takes a little bit of effort but together, we can make it.
As I alway say "Pax vobiscum" and may peace be with all of us.
Could we all shake hands?

P.S. Yes, and "trod" is the old word. I think that we use "tread" nowadays, but please correct me if I'm wrong. After all, English is not my native tongue.

Olive branches have been offered before Gala, many times and not just from me. If you can see a way to getting Sally to shake hands - then you will be the best Christmas present this forum is ever likely to have been given.

I await a positive response.

Personally I dont think Sal needs any olive branch. She seems to take things in her stride and not let it bother her :masked:. Of late, I've just been a reader but I still thik this is a great forum and a great source of iformation for those who love Italy, are moving to Italy, or have just moved to Italy. :yes:

I'm unsure why you "don't think Sally needs any olive branch" and perhaps you should declare your hand on this statement, so to speak, but as I have already said, there is room for everyone in this forum - even un idiota con un'intelligenza molto inferiore alla media and obviously that will include you Scatterbrain. The point is not if Sally needs an olive branch - it's if she is prepared to modify her behaviour and posts in order to harmonise the forum and so far it seems crystal clear that - as usual - she is not.

Come si dice "flogging a dead horse" in Italian - come svuotare il mare con il cucchiaio? Boh, non lo so! :bigergrin:

Hi

I normally ride along with the forum with all its variety - threads and contributors but at the weekend I finally had had enough (seems my patience was over stretched................) of the stabs of one poster on another. In this case Sally on Nielo in what seemed like a long standing feud. Others on the same thread, 'Helloooooooooooooooo' had complained about Sally's method of posting. I attempted to cool this with a little, obviously too subtle, Christmas illustration and then get the thread back on track.

It was unreasonable for a long standing forum member to hijack a thread, especially from a new member, and use it to insult others.

Do we remember the Paul Newman affair?

For the record I neither know Sally, Nielo or anyone else involved here.

The result of this was an unwelcome, short PM conversation which others may or may not have experienced.

Perhaps a re-write of the forum etiquette guide if the normal values of 'do as you would be done by' cannot be applied by ALL!

[quote=juliancoll;103774]but as I have already said, there is room for everyone in this forum - even un idiota con un'intelligenza molto inferiore alla media and obviously that will include you Scatterbrain. [/quote]

With the odd exception I don't know who anyone is on this forum, really don't care and having been on the net since 1994 I have my own coping mechanisms, but are you sure that with statements like the above that you are not part of the problem yourself?

Sue, it was [B][U]myself[/U][/B] I was referring to. :smile:

I have given myself an early Christmas present and put those posters who like to pursue me round the forum and have a dig whenever they can, on my ignore list. I feel better already and perhaps it will save some bandwidth if they know I will not be reading what they post.

Only half a day but already I can recommend it!

[quote=Nielo;103814]I have given myself an early Christmas present and put those posters who like to pursue me round the forum and have a dig whenever they can, on my ignore list. I feel better already and perhaps it will save some bandwidth if they know I will not be reading what they post.

Only half a day but already I can recommend it![/quote]

Though this may be a solution Nielo, I doubt if I (personally) could be as strong as you. I'm just too damned nosy. I've just [I][U]GOT[/U][/I] to know what's going on with forums/sites I belong to... I'm not worried :nah: about those I don't.

I've learned to live with the backbiting, sarcasm and general unrest that I see on some sites. I've tried both privately and publicly, over time (as you know) to convince some to grasp that elusive 'olive branch' - only to see it snatched, snapped in two and discarded with utter disdain. I could never survive if my life was overtaken with such bitterness - it is far too prescious to squander in such an unproductive way. So for that reason I now just drop an occasional hint (i.e. how to use the 'quote' icon) - on the board. I can't be bothered any more with lengthy PM's offering [I]any[/I] form of friendly advice or counselling!

OMG :eeeek: I've just thought.... I wonder if you will ever get to read this Nielo?
[IMG]http://forums.grunt.com/emoticons/ROTFL.gif[/IMG]
Maybe I'm on your 'Ignore List' too?

No Carole, you are coming through loud and clear.

It is just the boring, predictable stuff that isn’t.

The only thing is that you may put a person on your Ignore List then later someone quotes the Ignored One!!! So there's no real escape. lol

[quote=juliancoll;103734]

It is pointless entering into dialogue with Sally as this has been attempted numerous times by others here - only for her to completely ignore the topic and show incredible disdain by obviously reading the thread concerned, refusing to reply and then posting something in the very same thread to show everyone that she has no intention of modifying her behaviour. [/quote]

[quote=Carole B;103841]

I've tried both privately and publicly, over time (as you know) to convince some to grasp that elusive 'olive branch' - only to see it snatched, snapped in two and discarded with utter disdain. [/quote]

[quote=Sally Donaldson;103853]
The only thing is that you may put a person on your Ignore List then later someone quotes the Ignored One!!! So there's no real escape. lol[/quote]

Perdonami Nielo perche' ho peccato :swoon:

Loathe as I am to subject Nielo to more of your banality - I must - just to capture the proof for all time that your malaise is ignorant and so boringly predictable!

Dimmi signora donaldson - come ci si sente ad essere piu' sfortunato e sventurato come te? :twitcy: