Well, folks, here I am! I guess I'm no longer welcome at FlyerTalk. Got the banned for life notice when I tried to sign in. So how about a fresh new start!
Welcome! TUG was started two months ago by a core group less than pleased with the evolving trends in TS/S & FT policies. Some were also being banned or -- even more pernicious because others think you just lost interest & went away -- inexplicably locked out of TS/S. You'll have to try awfully hard to get banned here even once.
Bart why would you think you would not be welcomed here? We want to discuss travel security and issues surrounding that subject. It's clear which side of the fence I and many others are on but that doesn't mean that I would not value your input. That discussion may be done a bit differently here but please give us the insight you have for the various topics. edit to add: Do you know what comment FT made the banning decision on?
I don't know what the decision was made on. I know that some of my FT posts were confrontational, but, in my mind, I never stepped over the line. Or, to put it another way, I don't think my posts were any worse than the ones that were aimed against me. I thought if it was good for the goose, then the same should go for the gander. I never thought I wouldn't be welcomed here. I was invited to come here. It just took me a while to find this web site because I saved the link in FT (once you're banned, you can't access anything!). I just hope that those who knew me in FT don't assume that I'm a troublemaker. I like good debates but won't put up with any personal BS directed at me. Thanks for the welcome! I look forward to some great discussions.
I read through all of your posts "over there"* for the last 5 days. I saw nothing that should have resulted in a suspension. I concluded a couple months ago based on an exchange with the mods & mgmt & after several of my friends had been arbitrarily suspended or lock out of a specific forum that "that other place" had lost its soul. *Here we know it as "over there" or "that other place".
Bart, you can appeal the FT banning decision. I have the email for Carol who seems to be in charge of banning reviews. If you want I will send a message from you to "bconvr" of Internet brands. I can't find a direct email but if you want to send a message you would like them to get I will forward that message via FT PM. Anything you send me will be held in strict confidence and not disclosed anywhere.
I doubt an appeal to Carol would do any good but I am willing to forward anything Bart wishes to present if he so wishes.
I know it wouldn't do any good. The moderators there have placed themselves on a pedestal above reproach. RP used to spend a surprising amount of time evaluating appeals & complaints -- not every time but often, and sometimes in incredible detail. You won't get that out of the current crew.
I've spent far more of my forum time here than the other place in the past month or so. I still post there but mainly so I can drop the link to TUG in the sig line. While I understand the need to moderate to some extent, it was getting a bit unpredictable as to what would get kicked to OMNI or designated offensive. Since the idea of forums is an exchange of ideas and opinions, it seemed silly to have to self-censor ones comments before posting. It got to the point where I would just drop things off with minimal comment and move on replying on current stories. Welcome aboard Bart, looking forward to your lively exchanges.
Happy to find this site, and this is my first post. I'm another person appalled over the TSA groping, so have decided not to fly, unless it's a family emergency. I may be taking a train across country this month to avoid flying. Bummer, for it'll take 4 days instead of 7 hours. Have checked with Amtrak's TSA policy, and they do checks also, but far less frequently, so I'll take my chances.
Vic45, Welcome to TUG! I'm with you on not flying unless it is absolutely necessary. I may be going to Detroit later this year to visit my boyfriends parents before they kick the bucket, but other than that, I'm grounded until this nonsense stops! Bart, A belated welcome to you. I hope I am not the one who got you banned because I did report one of your posts to the mods. If so, my humble appologies!
Vic, you'll find that many of us have stopped flying. I also depend on the train now. I'd be curious to know what you found out when you checked with Amtrak, because it sounds different from what I've found out. Amtrak Police Chief John O'Connor was livid when he discovered that the TSA had set up shop at the Savannah train station earlier this year and searched & groped passengers after they'd gotten off the train. He banned the TSA after that. Now, maybe he banned them only from showing up without clearing it with him first; that's possible. Otherwise, it's been enlightening for me to hear all the background on 'that other place' over the past few weeks. For whatever reason, I was never able to sign up over there. Every time I tried, I got an error message -- now can't remember what it said -- but it's interesting to hear about how many people they've banned.
Welcome Underground to Bart and Vic45. I'm looking forward to hearing from both of you! And Lisa, as I understand it, TSA is allowed to be there, looking for suspicious activity under the direct supervision of Amtrak police, who are actual LEOs. This policy was enacted as a result of the Savannah Incident, and because of it the frequency of goon squad activity is supposed to have been severely limited.
I'm not sure they've banned all that many. How can you tell someone's been banned, or count the number of people banned? I was suspended for a week about 4 hours into a really serious computer virus/hacking problem on one of my PCs. The possibility of a connection between the two issues freaked me out a bit, and I decided not to return to FT. It was never clear to me why I was suspended, and I thought the monitor who had been increasingly nasty over the preceding month was a bit of a kook. She seemed normal in public posts, but was creepy in private correspondence. Some of the people who've disappeared may be like me -> not banned, but rather refusing to return without evidence of better behavior on the part of moderators there.
