A blog that disparages expats

[admin]

It has been brought to my attention that comments on Mr Bowers website can be placed here: http://www.expat-blog.com/en/blog/north-...ogspot.com and that if one were to become a member of that site direct e-mail exchanges are possible.

[DML]

Since we are talking about blogs...i'd like to shamelessly promote one of my husband's blogs (for his book World's Cheapest Destinations):

http://travel.booklocker.com/

he allows anyone to post if they wish and enjoys a healthy discussion.

[soledad]

This is another site one of many where Bower post.
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Douglas_Bower
If you type in Doug Bower Mexico (not just Doug Bower for that will get you the crop circle guy) there are page after page(many redundant) of his postings and related material. I am reminded of the character in "A Beautiful Mine"..you know the movie with Russell Crowe playing a statistical theorist who happens to be paranoid schzoid.The character obsessively posts cuttings from articles and sees some grand scheme of reality only known to him. Bower is like that in that he posts continously and compulsively over the internet.
I really don't belive anyone will be able talk to him reasonably and get a reasonable response. Better... it might be best to confront those sites (other than his blog) and tell the owners/publishers what you feel about Bower's posts. Again those sites that advertise his books may also be a place to start. Another place might be the
Tourist officals for GTO. I think they would also take a dim view of this disparaging remarks about his adopted city GTO.

[gary]

You are all living in the most beautiful space on the earth....why aren't you out enjoying it instead of nit-picking on a computer. Shamed on ALL of you![/size][/font]]

[doncoulter]

Gary,

Nitpick or enjoy Guanajuato? That's what's known as a false choice. We can do both!

Don

[gary]

Hi, Don:
You know me and I know you and I think you'd have to agree that at my age I must choose one over the other cuz I don't have time to do both! Saludos.

[raquelita]

Doug, I don't have one pure take on what you write. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't. Will mention that when I finally got to your present blog, I couldn't "visit" it.

I do object when you trash people you disagree with, impute motives, and lampoon just about anyone but yourself as gringolandian robots, when, as the song says, "there are twelve gates to the city, hallelujah."

---

Sorry, Don, that last post should have gone elsewhere.

[soledad]

Doug, I don't have one pure take on what you write. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't. Will mention that when I finally got to your present blog, I couldn't "visit" it.

I do object when you trash people you disagree with, impute motives, and lampoon just about anyone but yourself as gringolandian robots, when, as the song says, "there are twelve gates to the city, hallelujah."

---

Sorry, Don, that last post should have gone elsewhere.

---

I think that the problem we experience with Doug's postings have for the moment passed. I see that he has closed down his blog and many of his offensive post have been removed from the web. The question is Doug..."when will the other shoe drop" or more appropriately..."when will someone drop a dime on you" (snitch)...to Immigration or the Hacienda for failure to pay taxes on your income in Mexico.Maybe a public apology on your blog and associated sites might stop this process. Maybe not. You decide.

[mr bill]

For whatever Doug's sins have been over these many years and there have been so, so many points many of us wished we could contest/refute/correct/obliterate thank heaven we are not in Arizona and that dimes don't work in the phones here.

Lo que pasa that although DavidR's initial post was a mas o menos an open letter to Doug who is, as far as I know, still a member of the other group formerly known as blahdeblahgroupgtolist (I can't recall the full URL at this hour) the real issue (God I hate that word) is what happened when DavidR's post went up:

It was censored/axed/removed/obliterated. And not by Doug!

Doug has a right to his free speech.
He uses his blog to exercise it. Of course it?s disappointing that after he says/writes something and exposes those thoughts in a public venue like his blog he is unwilling to accept feedback. We know that he is sensitive to the volume of the potential feedback* but I guess that's his right as real owner of that blog whether we agree with him or not to deny feedback.

On the other hand when someone creates a public forum that inevitably takes on its own unique community dynamic as members enroll and contribute some contributing members find their work throttled by the group?s authoritarian ?owner?. That's another matter. We all, as educated, civilized, cultured adult members of that group (well, I was never admitted as a member - long story there and better reserved for PM's if I?m in the mood), have to question why we would belong/contribute anything to a blog/list/group harbored under such a repressive umbrella.

I, Bill Byrnes (aka Mr Bill), really do 'own' www.gtolist.com. This is not a ?free? googlegroup. That means I'm paying the freight for the domain name and the hosting space in Thailand [under $25 bucks/year for the whole deal]. ?Ownership? stops as the check clears. This board was founded to be an open community asset/resource. I hope others will overwhelmingly agree that this is the place to be in GTO.

Finally - Doug, sorry for the collateral damage. I don't think anyone has a dime handy and, as I mentioned earlier even if they did, they don't work in the phones here.

Mr. Bill

* I think the inability to ? or actually the ability to, at some time in the past, ? offer feedback that was then zapped frustrated/exasperated/inflamed those who commented thus the vigor expressed in their comments that could go ?public? went on verbal steroids. The ?death threats?stuff? Well, I think the more the details change in the taxi-on-fire story you need to check your imagination as it seems to have a tumor growing out of control. Relax, you need to calm down.

[colleen]

I have a slightly different angle on this right now. I have known Doug and Cindi since they lived in our neighborhood. I don't agree with Doug but I'm not terribly interested in the comment/no comment deal. What I am concerned about now is the fact that I haven't heard back from Cindi since I emailed her a few days ago, when Doug's blog and articles on ezine disappeared. This happened (perhaps by chance) after Martha's post on Doug's possible diagnoses. My opinion - that should have been sent in a private email.

It is so out of character for Doug to take down a blog rather than rant about what all of this commentary means. He had nearly 150 articles up on the ezine site and they are gone. Therefore....what does this mean? I don't wish him ill. I hope, since he really believes that people are trying to kill him, that this thread has not caused him any problems. If someone, (Martha?) has their phone #, please send it to me in a private email, not on this forum. I had it but don't think I got a new one when they moved to San Javier.

Thanks