Thanks.

Actually, last year #patrice tried to help me help a newbie who made a simple post about small plot farming in Africa - and #hae---- (you can guess who) flagged him all the way to zero, flagging all his posts. patrice told me the flagger is too big to fight a flagging war with, so I talked about it to various posters and they told me of experiences of theirs. I was not just grand-standing, there are a number of good people who left here because they did not like these bullying tactics.

If you are going to flag, then #cheetah is not a bad example, never attempting to destroy, but to handicap so that the poster learns that plagiarising and scamming, does not pay.

Two of those I have helped, afterwards admitted to me they were in the wrong, but because I helped them, they decided to try to do what is right. I only kept an eye on them for a few weeks, so I cannot confirm they kept their word. However, I prefer to use some carrot with the stick, not just the stick.

The group that unfairly flags, I cannot recall their full name, it is something with 'whale' in it and they warn people that this poster in in their black list. Them and some like them, I will always fight, for the poster has to beg to be forgiven....and I mean literally beg and humiliate themselves. I saw one person be forgiven because he had begged and begged to the point where I could not bear to read the humiliation of his pleas.

Please keep in mind that usually there are two sides to every problem and if you can, lead the idiot who broke the rules to find out that he has not arrived somewhere where he is the only clever one who sees the opportunities...for that is how most of them think. They need to learn that we will not allow them to succeed, but if they try to improve, we'll help them. It does not alway work, but when it does, it feels good.

Perhaps, as we have curators, we should also have mentors?