I’ve had some comments that have automatically dropped into moderation because of flagged words not because of banning. This system has been in place for ages and includes certain swear words. This is because certain words often indicate that the comment might be problematic.

If your comment does not appear immediately it is in moderation. It does not automatically mean you are banned. If you change your name, the first time you use it, you will drop into moderation. This is not a new procedure. Once your first comment is approved, you are free to post.

Is that clear ?

Can’t you see that you’re digging yourself a deeper hole and leaving yourself open to accusations of double standards everytime you ignore Xenos’s constant abuses of your own rules?

It seems that everytime you try to rectify the situation you’re making it worse because you refuse to accept something that everyone else can see. The only way to rectify this situation is by sticking to your comment policy and applying your rules EVENLY ans EQUALLY to EVERYONE, and not making special allowances for posters who you may happen to secretly agree with.

You do not know who I have banned or not. You cannot see my blog dashboard so don’t make assumptions. I am slowly clearing through a lot of work I have had to do on this blog.

I would suggest that those people who are caught up in this power struggle, give themselves new names and start again with a clean slate. I do not wish to go back over old ground.

Can I also suggest that you use non-jokey names as this adds some seriousness to your comments.

I repeat, I am not banning ANYONE from asking questions. I am asking people not to keep harping on about how I run this blog, who I should ban or not ban etc etc.

I am taking very seriously all your arguments and complaints and working to make this blog a more friendly and constructive place to be.

Thank you

In fact, after DD posted the “Time for Banning” thread (which stated that she would “ban anyone who insulted or made personal attacks against others from now on”), Xenos came on and made ANOTHER personal attack almost immediately (calling posters “psychiatric patients”) which DD promptly DELETED. So, she didn’t stick to her threat to ban anyone who made personal attacks from now on, she effectively hid the evidence by deleting Xenos’s post so she wouldn’t have to ban him. This has been going on for ages in the blog, Xenos gets away with murder and is not required to adhere to the same rules as others in here who have been banned for the same offences.

I can’t be the only person who has noticed this double standard but i can see why others don’t dare to bring it up or ask a question of DD in here for fear of being on the receiveing end of a “Time for Banning” post.

DD, Xenos continues to post personal attacks as well as vulgar and abusive language. He is also not respecting posters anonimity by mentioning people’s real names. How long will it take you to finally do something about this? Or do you secretly approve of his offensive opinion on Greeks? That’s the impression you’re giving with your tacit acceptance of his continuous rule-breaking.

I agree with your comment on Xenos. He is indeed intolerant.

I believe, and might be wrong, that Greece is (or was) hospitable when foreigners are tourists or visitors- less permanent.

Mia, like most Southern Europeans, you’re doing yourself down.

Don’t feel brow-beaten by sanctimonious Brits like Xenos into thinking that Greeks or Italians are more likely to be corrupt or xenophobic or homophobic. People like Xenos thrive on making people feel inferior. We Northern Europeans have been doing this for centuries (demoralising the natives) when we went round colonising and stealing people’s resources around the world (under the guise of ‘civilising’ them).
In my experience, the Mediterranean people are their own worst enemies when it comes to comparing themselves negatively with Northern Europeans.

At the risk of sounding patronising, I can tell you for a fact that as a Brit who has lived extrensively in Southern Europe, the Southern Europeans have been the most hospitable people i’ve ever come across. When i moved to Southern Europe my next door neighbour couldn’t be more accomodating or helpful (my next door neighbours in britain didn’t even acknowledge we existed until they complained about something or other). In fact, i don’t think i even exchanged more than a couple of words with my neighbours back in England and i suppose it’s the same for you in Denmark. Southern Europeans are more likely to invite you in their homes and share their last piece of bread with you even if they hardly know you. This hospitality is part of their culture. In Britain, being miserable whingers is part of our culture. As is turning our nose up at foreigners. You’ll see alot of that from holier-than-thou Brits and Americans.

It’s high time that Southern Europeans stand up to the condescending and abusive “little Englanders” who turn their noses up at the “corrupt greasy Greeks” – we must realise that there are no greater or lesser ignorant or corrupt people. Ignorance exists everywhere and to suggest that one race/nationality is more ignorant or more prone to be corrupt than another is wrong (in fact, it’s racist).

It’s important that you don’t take unsophisticated culture-intolerant snobs like Xenos seriously. And it’s important that you don’t do yourself down. Brits like Xenos are much less cultured than you are. That’s why he swears and throws his toys out the pram whenever someone questions his trailer trash mentality. You can see many examples of his vulgar language in this blog. Reminiscent of British hooligans on the piss….

Rubbish. You can move freely and easily throughout Europe and gain employment so that’s just a feeble excuse. Obviously, it’s a little harder if you have children but still very possible to set up abroad. In fact, thousands of Brits emigrate to Greece, Spain and Italy every year (and the children are far better at assimilating in the new environment than adults are – they learn the lingo much quicker than adults too, so it’s not that bad).

It makes even more sense for low income earners like Xenos to live in Greece because they can afford a decent standard of living in Greece. They cannot afford to live a decent life in the UK because as low income earners, their lives would be abject misery.
Therefore, it makes sense for Brits in the low wage bracket to live in countries such as Greece or Spain where you get much more “bang for your buck” and where life is so much more enjoyable and the culture is so much nicer. Xenos may moan alot but he loves it really, he knows which side his bread is buttered. His many years of living in Greece is testament to that. He may be a bit of a whinger but we Brits are all like that, especially when we go abroad. It’s important that we don’t take him or his tantrums too seriously.