ok well at least you are available here.
Just remove the permissions plugin and everything would be fixed.
My idea was to have a builder rank that has all the permissions of the default rank but also has /gamemode and maybe worldedit. Problem is that most permissions plugins screw up everything when you install it, instead of leaving default, so you have to sift through everything to get it right. If only there was a node for all defaults.
Maybe sometime I will tinker with some permissions plugin and if it works out i'll give it to you to install.
Erm, for most plugins you can do a .* for all perms (i.e worldedit.*). Right now, I have the flu, so I can't really do anything.