ThomasM[PuristS]
14331
I apologize for the tone of Dr. Ting's open letter but ...
Jun 29, 2015,09:13 AM
I stand behind the action taken, even though it really saddens me.
Bernard has been requested, then warned, many times, over many years, to please respect "local rules and standards."
He continued to flout those polite requests and warnings.
He then recently posts something like this, after yet again receiving yet another polite "hint" that he is violating local rules and standards -
"So...I recall that I told those involved that I would be wasting my time writting to, sharing on a forum, with people who don't matter to me...like most of the Mods except for the now expelled SJX."
Which basically is a big "fuck you" to those mods who have been so patient and forebearing all these years, taunting them to "do something about it" - the very same people I have been encouraging to give Bernard "one more chance" or to handle the situation "with kids gloves" out of respect for Bernard PAST great works - how do you think this makes me feel, as someone who really really tried to extend Dr. Cheong every courtesy and benefit of the doubt possible, against people who were tasked with a thankless job of maintaining a certain standard of conduct here for the benefit of all?
And don't you find it just a bit disingenuous now for him to be indignant about the results?
It's funny, following the rules and benefiting from a well behaved society always seems to be "for the other guy" but never for oneself, who reckons himself to be, even revels in, being "a rebel" or even thuggish...
Um, where's the disconnect?
Isn't the disingenuousness just dripping in irony?
There is so much hypocrisy and bad faith flying around about this situation (I don't excuse or exclude ourselves in this statement, and insofar as we might have been inappropriate or hypocritical in our statements or actions, I apologize and stand ready to correct these) that I am just dumbfounded...
Many, if not most, of Bernard's recent posts of recents years have been EXACTLY about investing and monetary appreciation and monetary returns on watch collecting; nearly every single post brings up money in an almost pathologically obsessive, passive aggressive way -
"I'm poor, yet I have a collection of millions of dollars of watches and I drive Porsches" - stating that you are poor or came from poverty doesn't make your current excesses any less ...shall we say, excessive?
yet, others write that his writings are interesting BECAUSE they don't focus on investing and monetary appreciation...
um, where's the disconnect?
(following from a private heads up about comments made "publically") And then Mr. Masanori Kondo, in support of Bernard, accuses PuristSPro of being too commercial now, even though EVERY SINGLE INTERACTION I HAVE HAD WITH HIM SINCE I HAVE KNOWN HIM has been him asking me, "Which one is a good investment? I'm just a poor professor (about to buy a $400,000 watch)" which inevitably leaves me in the awkward position of having to repeatedly tell him, "I don't like to give investment advice when it comes to watches, but I am happy to share my thoughts about horological or artistic merit."
Always asking about investment value while pointing a finger about commercialism - where's the disconnect? Isn't the irony and hypocrisy just DELICIOUS?
I am almost brought to tears of sadness and laughter at the irony and hypocrisy...
Also, there are many not publically known reasons which, out of respect and to allow all parties - Bernard specifically, and indirectly PuristSPro, et al - to save face and avoid embarrassment, which long ago led to Bernard's "resignation" from the moderator team - Dr. Teillol-Foo has the details, if need be. Why oh why, Bernard, could you not just let sleeping dogs lie and just allow this parting to be amicable and dignified?
So again, to KPK and others, I apologize about the tone of Dr. Ting's Open Letter, but sadly have to stand behind the decision; I have run out of "founder's brownie points" to ask my moderator team to "just give Bernard another chance."
By the way, my apology is for the fact, not for Dr. Ting's sentiments - I completely understand the frustration and feelings behind that led to the unfortunate choice of wording. Being taunted and baited for years, specifically by Bernard's consistent flouting of our local rules and standards, AND after continuous and repeated polite requests to respect said rules and standards, again, FOR YEARS, all the while (for the moderators and specifically Dr. Ting) trying to be gentlemanly about it, does tend to build up much resentment...
Sincerely,
TM