You’ve Been Banned – This is MY Site

Comments and dialogue, here, at Stilettos in the Sand, have been welcomed and appreciated!!!

Up until now, I’ve let whoever wants to comment do so – and will continue to do so but for, to date, one exception: There is a man who has visited umpteen times who’s chosen to leave lengthy comments which turn into malicious, spiteful written assaults on me, or one of my regular visitors – a woman I communicated via e-mail with long before starting this site – whom I consider to be a personal friend. I am not posting this man’s “tag name,” or his site, as traffic it might generate by my doing so is wholly undeserved.

This lone, and now banned, commenter who instead of ranting on his own blog, wants to do so here, with pathetic lengthy diatribes that are, what I consider to be, incongruous, and are, at best, one-sided opinions rendering trivial, if any, value to my posts. But for only a time or two, most of the comments were not deemed worthy of being dignified with a response and I left them posted, regardless of their nature.

Last night I received an e-mail asking what was in a comment I deleted. I had drafted this post previously, but wasn’t going to put it up. I now feel the necessity to do so, so that anyone who might question why I would ban someone from my site or delete comments will understand. Here is but a small sampling of the statements which were contained in the deleted comments – only a few lines of many, many written paragraphs:

So, if life here doesn’t suit your style then why are you still here? I know the answer to that, because a lot of you people are the greediest people I have come across. Your whole life revolves around materialistic objectives. So you are willing to give up any principles and values you have for the money that you are so overpaid with.

. . . it is really hard for me to accept criticism from westerners who work in this country . . . you know why, because they have no merit. See, this is your, and your likes, problem. You have no merit whatsoever in judging anything about this society.

I am quite ashamed to be associated with these Americans but if you are reading this blog you have found the cowboy-type that doesn’t like anyone else but themselves. An absolute disgrace!

I won't go on in an argument with a person who has a peanut for a brain.

You know what; you can read the book if you want to, or you can shove it where the sun won't bleach it and the rain won't soak it.

One of the causes is the absolute apathy that you, and your likes, show towards all the problems in this world. It’s the greed that many of your countrymen have that led to [sic] much of the misery in this world.

[Purportedly this man’s wife wrote an entry as well.] You are right; my husband is a xenophobe but only to arrogant and belligerent people like yourself.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; that this man wants to blather inanely on and on is his choice to do so – in his own forum – but it is my choice – this being my site – to not allow him to do so, here. I don’t like the name calling, I don’t like the characterizations he uses to describe me and a friend of mine, and I don’t like his belligerent and cantankerous tone.

It is not as if there is such a plethora of comments that I will have to require registration, or have to establish some other more dogmatic method of monitoring comments. However, I have turned “comment moderator” on, and will now review all comments before they are posted to facilitate the banning of one person.

There is a saying, “One rotten apple spoils the barrel.” Because that one rotten apple visited my site and left comments that have, in essence, compelled me to make a decision that some may be offended by, is truly regrettable.