In Reply to: OMG - Do you posted by Colleen on Friday, 22. April 2005 at 21:51 Bali Time:
BTF has become a microcosm of the elite media we read every day.
Certain things cannot be mentioned, like "Iraq has no WMD" or "Sharkey's is good".
Why? Because the people that control the media, i.e. Multinational corporations and Bali Villas, don't like certain opinions being expressed.
So, anyone who expresses an opinion contrary to that which has been dictated is soon eliminated, and those remaining become fearful of speaking the truth.
Where the fark is Mic, Roy and Goober?
Three people who had something to say and useful information other than how many sleeps and who puts towells on deck chairs.
Nope. "Feel free to ask any question, etc." has become "Shut up unless you're promoting our stuff".
If they don't want people discussing things, they shouldn't have a forum. Half a forum is worse than no forum at all. A forum that is provided by a corporation that bans all other advertising is merely an advertisement. I'm sure there's a Coke forum somewhere, and I doubt there's a lot of Pepsi posts. That's why nobody sane would bother going there.
Unless this attitude changes soon, there will be no meaningful dialogue here again. Just a bunch of repetitive JBRs and questions about VIP VOA.
Bali is part of Indonesia, which is part of South east Asia, which is part of the world. Bali is influenced by things that happen in these other related regions. If we are trying to provide a comprehensive guide to what is happening in Bali, other issues must be discussed.
If there was a forum about Brisbane that never mentioned Sydney or John Howard, what relevance would it have?
The posts comparing FA to Nazis should never have been deleted. But they were. And so will this one.