This is a message I wrote last night. I've just posted it now as I wanted to discuss it with Eric to make sure he was in agreement with this posting before I did indeed post it. He is, so here it is.

I’ve just come home from leaving my house at 8:45 this morning. It is now 9:00 p.m. I attended the Jet workshop all day, helped clean up afterwards, met with some friends for a half hour, went to pay my respects to a family who just lost a dear loved one, stopped for my Saturday fix of Delvin’s jerk pork and chicken and then came home.

I fed the cats and dogs and then sat down to the computer to check emails and TB.Net while munching on the jerk. What I found were messages berating me for not taking action on something today and messages berating TB.Net for censorship regarding the Sports Park, etc. I usually brush these comments off trying not to take them personally, but tonight I am writing this commentary.

Maybe the reason for writing this tonight is because I just left a home where I joined family and friends deeply mourning the loss of a loved one who died today, very unexpectedly and so very young. A few of us “older folks” were commenting to the youth on how this is a prime example of why you need to live each day to the fullest, tell those you love that you love them and if you are angry at someone try to resolve it.

So here goes.

First and foremost, please note neither Eric nor I have voiced our opinions on the Sports Park on this forum. We both feel very strongly it is not our personal opinions that matter. What matters is we provide this venue for others to voice theirs. In voicing their opinions does that give persons the right to call others names, condemn them for their perceived motives without every asking them personally what their motives are, use swear words of any kind even if they may be words a six year old has heard? Sorry folks, but not on this site. I would like to hear of any situation that was made better by opposing sides calling each other names, accusing each other of things without hearing the other side of the story first, or swearing.

What Eric and I will do is allow all opinions to be heard as long as they are represented in a non-accusatory, respectful and reasonable fashion. Do we make mistakes sometimes with what we allow or do not allow? Sure do. Do Eric and I disagree at times over what should or should not be approved. Sure do! But we have always been able to discuss it and come up with if not a consensus, then a compromise. Have we been threatened in the past with being sued for defamation of character for other person’s opinions being voiced on this forum? Yep, sure have. Has it been strongly suggested to us that we only allow threads on the forum if a person gives their full name and email address? Yep, sure has. But we do not want to do that as we both strongly believe that will deter folks from giving honest opinions due to the safety of anonymity. Do we feel like shutting this whole forum down sometimes? You better believe it as more often than not we are caught between a rock and a hard place and in a no win situation. However, both of us feel strongly that overall this forum is good for Treasure Beach as it is one of the few, if not only, places where opinions can be heard whether you are living in Treasure Beach, a resident living abroad, a visitor who is interested, or any other connection you may have to this wonderful community.

So in closing, we are not without fault. We are fallible. But we will continue to do our best to provide a venue for all respectable opinions to be heard. And yep, sorry folks, but that is up to our fallible discretion. And if there is a delay in a message being posted, please note we may be discussing (maybe even arguing) that particular post, or we may just be out of the office all day and not had a chance to check the posts.

Respectfully,
Rebecca