The topics like you listed are all things where the tourist inflicts the harm upon themselves whereas a Route Taxi inflicts the damage on the tourist in some maner.
"Shouted down" seems unfair. People can discuss things without emotions taking over. This seems pretty tame to me. If you lived in Jamaica like I do you would see more "shouting down" during a domino game!
No it is not off limits and yes, Smith is still around. You can see his ramblings all over the board. Do a search on his name at the top.
Peace and Guidance