That is exactly my take on him!

And almost as sad was the vitriol towards BW that spewed forth afterwards.

Still, thanks to the OP for collating some of BW's FT posts and reminding us what an interesting and intelligent poster he was. ^

Wow, first Pudding Guy in Punch-Drunk Love, now this ... can anyone think of a good title for the movie?

Somehow I doubt the OP is Fitzgerald.

Oh! I know! Other People's Money!

Damn, already taken.

I never met b watson and honestly never really thought much about him until after he died.

It does seem tragic, however, that anyone could be so insecure that they would feel driven to spend money that they don't have, on superficial trappings that they don't need.

If he had just been honest and worked hard, he could easily have provided himself and his wife with a very pleasant, happy, and long, life.

Wouldn't the FT TOS apply to former Flyertalkers as well as current ones?

There comes a point where a F/Ter is more than just an F/Ter -- he is a public figure and subject to the same scrutiny as any other.

I don't think that any of us would say that we could not criticize a politician simply because he posts on F/T.

There have been other cases. QueenofSky became famous because of her blog and Delta's reaction to it (she was fired). She came to F/T to drum up support and while some of us were on her side others opposed her. Those who did not like what she did said so in very blunt terms. These were not considered TOS violations.

Rquesty is a CNN anchor in Britain (his real name is Richard Quest). As far as I am concerned, he is one of the best journalists working for CNN. But let's say that I didn't feel that way -- shouldn't I be allowed to condemn him in the same manner I condemn Dan Rather?

When B Watson died, there were several threads about him. Randy did not want him derided on every board on F/T and said that discussions about his practices should be confined to the one board where they would be on topic: Omni.


From Randy's post:

However, the issue is more to do with posting habits. Dissecting this members' suicide or business practices is hardly a matter in the CX or BA or SQ forums I would say. FlyerTalk does not prohibit such discussion, merely it seeks to remind members of staying on topic as well as posting to the correct forum. If any members here would like to pursue these types of topics, there are threads in OMNI where these discussions are going on right now.

Well, at least the time he invested in FlyerTalk kept him busy doing something that did not involve stealing other people's money. Then again I wonder how many FT'ers Buddy treated to drinks/dinner/whatever using stolen funds. Maybe members of the FT Bar can tell us whether that makes anyone an accessory to fraud.

Maybe because he used other people's money to pay the bills anyway? @:-)

I don't have any precise figures for how many people carry balances on their credit cards, but I think you just described a good portion of America.

This is of course true to some extent. Let us hope that most of them have intentions of paying the money back and aren't defrauding anyone to get it.

Who cares?

Do rules apply to the deceased?