Excuse me, but...

Unfortunatly we're afllicted with a very unpleasant Troll who has been stirring up trouble on the REAL/ORIGINAL Mini group for the past 12 months and so we've now got to this stage of the game and like I said elsewhere, trust an American to start the bloody war!

Taffy

Hi Taffy,

I've been trying really hard not to follow the ongoing war but i have to agree with the person who reminded us all that the best thing to do is simply 'ignore' the posts that we don't like. Surely, this is the only way that these groups are going to achieve some level of normality.

I only decided to post because, in some respects, you are IMHO encouraging the Troll's behaviour. With comments like REAL/ORIGINAL, i feel it only fuels the already negative feeling between the two groups.

Well, guess this post will be ripped apart too, but at least i got it off my chest...

Taffy wrote:

We've been trying to ignore the filth and abuse for months by using the kill-file option, but when your friends and your own user name and e-mail address is used so you can't block the abuse and every post is attacked then it's natural a war is going to break out and trust an American to start it all!

Taffy

kat,

Not everyone in here is participating in the flame wars. There seem to be three or four of them. Most of the people here could care less about which Mini you drive, they love them both! The sad thing is that newbies will post here looking for simple advice, and they get flamed for things like:

a) being American b) being British c) driving a MINI d) calling a MINI a BINI e) calling a MINI a Mini f) responding to a previous flame g) being too liberal h) not being liberal enough i) asking a MINI question in a Mini forum j) posting a Mini link in a MINI forum k) collecting the wrong type of model cars

etc., etc...

By the way, all of my examples have actually happened, either here or in alt.autos.mini. Personally, I don't care what anyone's nationality is, what their political views are, what their religious beliefs are... These things should have no bearing on the discussion in this newsgroup, namely the MINI. Hell, even if you drive a Yugo you should still feel free to talk about the MINI in here. That's the point of this newsgroup, right?

Charlie (dauph59)

hep kat wrote:

Sarcs,

I couldn't agree with you more. The best way for everyone to deal with this is to ignore the trolls' (plural) postings. And yes, I'm sure your post will be ripped apart (along with mine).

Both sides in this war claim self defense ("he started it!"). I'd like to say that I can see both side's point of view, the truth is that I can see neither side's point. One side will slam the other's car by calling it a cute, slightly derogatory name. Then the other side will counter by saying the first group's car is outdated. It then escalates into a scathing indictment of each other's nationality, parentage or any number of other insults.

I'm staying out of it. If the concerned parties would stay on-topic and post to the correct newsgroup (alt.autos.mini for the original Mini and alt.autos.new-mini for the MINI), that would help. If someone inadvertently posts to the wrong group (which I did on my first visit), there is no need to be rude. In my case I was told that I should post comments about my car in "alt.autos.junk"!

One day these groups will get back on track... you think?

Charlie (dauph59)

Sarcs wrote:

Well the problem is this group got so sick of Trolls that the very mention of the BMW Hatchback created instant abuse and that's why you got the hostility.

Still at least your mature and man enough to walk away Charlie.

Pity others who have issues can't?

Taffy

Oh and I meant alt.autos.mini by this group! ;O)

Taffy