I've come pretty close to walking out at times, usually when Enoch Powell's spiritual heirs start spouting their racist vile. In the end, it's best to either ignore their incendiary, provocative posts or answer them by destroying their hate-filled arguments and move on.
We have the choice to post or not to post, to read or not to read (and I've become very selective about what I read and from whom----paranoid ex-pats and miserable ob-coms are such one-trick ponies that there's no point reading them unless you want to be wound up).
There is no conspiracy, there's no ruling collective. It's all just disparate people looking to unwind and share a few laughs with others---or to find like-minded individuals with whom they can howl at the moon. If you don't like Wazza or Sam, ignore them. If Wazza is the ego monster you think he is, being ignored will cause him much more harm than any amount of accusations you can fire at him. Likewise, Sam and Wazza shouldn't think of you and jj as people trying to reclaim lost territory.
In spite of everything, there was no golden age here----there always were self-obsessed tossers who used this place for their own ends. But there have been some good laughs over the years: and that applies to 2008 as much as to 2001.
Get over it. You have as much of a contribution to make here as anyone. And don't be paranoid, mate. That just leads to exile in Italy
