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Most of us joined the Old Forum and then the Community for the same reasons that you had. In my case, quite a few years ago, I was searching for good information on Italy as I was house hunting at the time. I also had a keen interest and a bit of knowledge on ½ûÂþÌìÌà culture and I thought that I could make a positive contribution. Unfortunately, other people in the Forum had "fun" attacking other members and causing havoc. What you are seeing now is just a small sample of what was usual in the past. These people have been banned several times, but they keep on coming, under different identities but with the same twisted purpose. And now that they do not have their own Forum to vent their frustrations, they are trying to take over this one again or destroy it. I am not willing to allow this to happen. We want the Community to continue, but in an atmosphere of respect, goodwill and providing useful information and discussion for members to enjoy. Some of us think that Esme/Anastasia is the same person. We could even add Flip, as this person loves multiple personalities. My advice is not to fall for the sweet siren's song. I also endured it, but the minute you realise what is going on and you rebel against it, you become their target. Good luck with all your plans!

Italy is very fragile land. A good explanation is given here: As you will see, the area concerned by the recent catastrophe is not listed; however, you can never predict what may happen. I also find these two reports most enlightening: I have been many times to Monterosso and I would have never imagined that something like this could happen. It would be good if someone from the area can tell us if members and their families are safe, although it will be difficult because electricity will be down for quite a while. We have friends in San Francisco who have family (a large one) in the Cinque Terre and they cannot get through. My thoughts and prayers go to them.

There is also a lot of information in the "Il Tirreno" site: Devastating! I remember that there were some members in the Aulla and Lunigiana areas. I hope that they will be fine.

Esme/Anastasia, I am not a bitter person and whatever you may say does not affect me. Anyone can tell you that it is clear that you are on the attack and that you twist words in order to justify your attitude. But then, this is your trademark. I do not mind you using different "noms de plume", but the reason for you to do that is that you have been banned from the Forum and the Community under other identities. But you keep on coming and you do not seem to learn from past errors. Regarding your remarks about the Administration and Ronald, you seem to forget that this is not a private site, but a commercial one. The owners of the site and their associates are the ones who do whatever they want with it. If they change a format and it does not convince the users, we can tell them, but it is up to them to do whatever they want. The Community does not belong to the members, we are just users of a free facility. As I said in a previous post, it was explained that the replacement of the Forum by the Community was seen as necessary by the Administration in order to clean up the image of the site that was attracting criticism and complaints from advertisers due to the continuous fighting. A very strict protocol regarding member ID was implemented. It does not seem to have been very effective, but then.... it is very difficult to monitor it. You had your own Forum and you were free to say there whatever you wanted. As far as I know, nobody from the Community went there to insult or cause havoc. If you, or any of your friends come here, we expect the same treatment and respect we gave you. We never posted derogatory texts against yourself or the others. Whenever new members (or old members who were unaware of what had been going on) were asking questions, we always gave vague responses. This is the first time (and I do hope the last one) that it is openly discussed.   

Yes, I am still hoping and I will write again to Admin. I shall keep you posted.

Terrible news, indeed. The area is a favourite one for us and every time that we go to Bagni di Lucca we make a day trip to the Cinque Terre. It is also a very fragile environment and this catastrophe could cause tremendous damage to the area. My thoughts and my prayers go to them and I hope that there will be no more victims. If you get to the online site for Corriere della Sera they are constantly updating the information.

I had a similar problem about a month ago, but then, it went back to normal. For this reason, I thought that it was my computer. I have also had a few instances where a response that I had written "evaporated" in the process of posting it. Also, I cannot post in the "Bella Italia" group which I started a few days ago and for which I have a confirmation stating that it had been created and I was its administrator. I had tried again two days ago, with the same results. No answer as yet from the Administration to my message regarding these problems.

There are quite a few legends associated with tomatoes. Most Europeans waited a long time before adopting them as a food and, although discovered in America at the time of Cortés and widely used by the Indians, they were not fully established in Europe until the 18th Century. Many thought that it was a poisonous plant (same thing happened with the potato). There is, though, a bit of truth in that the stems and leaves of the plant can be toxic as they contain substances such as "tomatine" and tropane alkaloids. On the other hand, the amount of tomatine contained in the fruit, whether it is ripe or not, is minimal and the lycopene antioxidant is a blessing as it protects us against many types of cancer. A friend of my daughters, who live in the US and who is a scientist and an expert in this field, has kindly explained to me all the wonderful properties of tomatoes. And they taste great, too!!!! You are right, in some countries they use salad tomatoes which are not very ripe, almost green, as they prefer a harder type than the ripe ones. I have eaten them and I am sure that they cause no harm.

Sorry Pamela, you have been forgotten in this turmoil and nobody has answer your questions, so I will try to do it. Here is your original text: QUOTE: Don't know the history behind the various personal tensions here. Do know that it makes me a bit perplexed and uncomfortable to see people being negative or argumentative towards others online. Enough strife in the world without adding more. I appreciate contributions which are informative, amusing, personal... whatever. I can see that some people have a bigger presence than others and I thank those who take the time to give of themselves.  I have no idea what all this is about "admin" - who are they? What did they used to do that made the forum different? Was it better? Are they absent because for economic reasons they need to attend more to the money making side of Italymag and the forum in itself does not generate income? If so, that seems ok to me. Glad there are not ads flashing at me all over the place as I browse the forum.  UNQUOTE

• "Admin", short for Administration, who is in charge of this site. The names of Ronald and Valentina are also used.
• In the Old Forum, the Administration was more active and present. There were Moderators as well, who had to intervene quite frequently.
• The Old Forum was better in content and there was quite a bit of participation; unfortunately, there were problems with some of the attacks we are currently seeing in the Community. I was not one of the people more affected by those. On the other hand some of the things said about certain members were simply not acceptable.
• Apparently, there ware complaints from advertisers regarding some of this situation. Then, Italy Magazine stopped printing its hard copy and went online. I suppose that it had to do with the current economic climate and the fact that many publications are nowadays going on line. Whatever is the reason, I guess that there are less people to take care of a Forum or Community, which is a free service for our benefit and that, although it can add information and life to an online magazine, does not justify to have people looking after it, particularly trying to solve disputes that should not take place in the first instance.
• I also agree with you, the fact that it is not an income producing section of the site makes it more pleasant to look at.

I trust that this will clarify some points for you.

Esme/Anastasia, please, do tell all of us: Who is to blame for the destruction of the old Forum? Who keeps on coming back and back again, using different "noms de plume", not to participate but to try to destroy again? Saffie, thank you for your comments. All this is most unpleasant. Unfortunately it has happened in the past. I am trying very hard to avoid a repetition of what took place before. Sprostoni, I do not know who you are (as you do not know me) and perhaps I suspected that you were part of the gang as your post in another thread reminded me of some that I had seen before. In that case, please accept my apologies, although I was never insulting. It is not my style. What we need is constructive input and this is a job for all members. No "personality cults" here. No gangs. No plotting. No insults. We can still have plenty of fun in harmony and discussion, in a mannerly form  is both estimulating and constructive. No need to muzzle anyone. Self-moderation is all what is needed. (I think that I have said it a million times).