Black hole observed!

[d b]

(03-01-2015 04:31 AM)Dave Hicks Wrote:  I think it's possible that Ray is a separate person who got swept up in a fracas so I have reinstated him. He would, of course, be wise to avoid this and other brouhahas (no offense Eric!), as would everyone else. Possibly Ray may not be happy here as currently about half of his posts are complaining about the forum, rather than talking about the actual subject matter, but we can all give it another chance and see how things work out.

Oddly enough I got whipped up in a fracas like this when I was fairly new to a forum (on an entirely different subject.) I too got banned for a while. In thinking back, I realize that one of the reasons I got whipped up into that was because I really wasn't that interested in the real subject matter of the forum, so this meta-subject matter caught my attention. Meanwhile most of the people on the forum didn't know me that well, and got suspicious about some stranger's apparent support of another guy. (Who I later learned was banned from nearly all the forums on this subject.)

Switching from Ray to someone else, we've had multiple post reports today from multiple people, about one member's posts in multiple threads. One of the reporters said it's time for a permanent ban, and I do understand the sentiment (and may even agree with it at some point in the future if things don't improve) but I have only applied a warning which will automatically result in a short vacation.

Edit: I am now convinced that Ray is a separate person who got caught up in something.

I was wrong. Ray is a real person All I can say as a reason I thought Ray was a shill account is that on the last day of Walter's earlier time out, which was extended for having a second account, based in Germany, used to taunt people, congratulate himself, and complain about the forum: Ray's third, fourth and fifth posts on another account based in Germany started up defending the same shenanigans. I took changing ISPs for something sneaky but that was not the case. Ray is a separate person, a member for at least 7 years and entitled to his opinions. So; I'm sorry for accusing you of being a fake Ray, and again, I was wrong.
I'm leaving tomorrow evening for three weeks in New Zeeland. We'll only have Carol's Iphone and it's too small to read so this would be a good time to discuss how stupidly I handled this. I won't have to know. -db