I have always tried to be honest and straightforward with the people on this board. In that spirit, I want it known that the creature calling itself “Dee” (and a variety of other names) has been permanently banned from this site. I kind of wondered what it would take for me to authorize Glenn to institute blocking someone from this site, and now I know: A poster making lewd and vile sexual comments involving my wife while utilizing explicitly vulgar language.
He of course immediately starting whining on Kathleen’s website about abridgement of free speech, which is the equivalent of showing up at someone’s party, vomiting on people while cursing them out, and then complaining when escorted out that the party thrower is a lousy host. At the earliest opportunity, he will be banned from that site as well.
Good bye and good riddance.
PAD
• 
Peter, you made the right decision. This is rec room, so to speak. He/she/it was given ample chances to take their meds and post as a reasonable person, but chose not to.
Just because people disagree, they don’t have to be disagreeable.
Absolutely the right decision but let’s not assume that “shrouding” was a failure–it drove the fool right out of his/her little mind, to the point that one almost…almost, felt sorry for them.
Draggimg Kathleen into it is so many steps below despicable that even the limited amusement value of the feep is lost forever. Let us not speak of him again/
PAD,
Having seen a number of vile postings from this person – Good Move in banishing him. After the initial string of comments affirming your action, let’s have the shrouding continue.
Regards,
Dennis
I’m glad you did finally banish him, but I guess I don’t see why you felt you had wait for it to get this far. Isn’t a pattern of insulting, abusive posts enough?
Good! I go here to read your blog and read people’s posts. I get enlightened by posters’s points and counterpoints. Facts and more facts to support/validate their point. I get entertained at times by posters who will discuss/argue topics that have nothing to do with the topic at hand and due to what was mentioned as an answer to another poster’s comment and thus, becomes a topic within a topic.
In regards to the shrouded one, he might not like what you posted but he could have articulated his opposition intelligently. That he chose to be crass is his loss. And it gets tiring to see the same poster saying the same things over and over again that I wish I have a wand to turn him into a toad or something.
By the way, the main reason I go to this blog is to be updated of your current work. Especially, Star Trek New Frontier. To read some of your/family’s happenings is a plus. Regarding your political opinions, I don’t really care whether your anti or pro. I don’t like politics, it’s too convoluted.
Some of the regular posters step right up to, and maybe a little over the line, but s/he was off the planet. No one needs to suffer verbal abuse. I think you made the right call. Personally, I would have banned the troll long ago. I’m all for free speech, but there was very little actual speech (Webster’s: the communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words)in the vitriol s/he spewed. I saw no evidence of thought at all.
Personally, I think everything went about the way it was supposed to on your end, Peter. I think your commitment to not banning under any kind of reasonable circumstances is admirable and fair. I think “shrouding” was a success for everyone but “Dee” because it was a chance for you to show your quality, which you did. That “Dee” pushed things beyond the “shrouding” point reflects on him/her, not you, Glenn, or the site.
The only negative I could see would have occurred had you been unwilling to ban once it got to the point of hurling patently vile insults as it did. Since you were and are obviously willing, everything looks like it’s (NOW) going the way it should. It’s just unfortunate that “Dee” had to say those things. We’re definitely better off now.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.
Eric
PAD-
Good riddance.
Not even worth the explanation. And certainly not worth the good bye.
Bill
If dee been adding anything nearing discernable, comprehensable posts, than you could label it as “speech”. Since this is not the case, you have no need to fear being accused of limiting free speech. 🙂
Fred
Posted by: Karen at June 27, 2004 10:37 PM
>*snip* Personally, I would have banned the troll long ago. I’m all for free speech, but there was very little actual speech (Webster’s: the communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words)in the vitriol s/he spewed. I saw no evidence of thought at all.
dámņ…. you beat me to it.
Free speech does not mean you get to be crude whenever you want. This is a private website and the owners can do whatever they want. Simple as that.
Jack
You did the right thing. The idea that anybody has “free speech” on the internet is pretty laughable. You’re paying for the upkeep and bandwidth of this site so you don’t owe anybody anything.
A pity that Dee couldn’t behave itself (Take my use of “it” for what you will) at all. People like that make me believe in the power of euthanasia and sterilization.
Congratuations on doing the right thing, Mr. David.
Now, if you have any further problems with this individual, let me know with plenty of time; it may take me a while to help. (My co-worker, who has a Sicilian surname, is retiring and may not be able to contact his Uncle Guido for a while. However, I can make do with lesser talents from the urban community and the rural countryside.)
PAD, it’s your site. You made the right call. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Freedom of speech is one thing…slandering a guy’s family is another. Forget this zero.
Rich
Good riddance to bad rubbish. It’s sad that no matter how much freedom you give some people, they always manage to screw it up by going too far. This poster wasn’t just disageeing with you (which is fine and frequently happens here — ‘swhy the political comments hit triple digits); the poster was racist, anti-Semitic, and (quite possibly literally) foaming at the mouth. I don’t know what they said about Mrs. David, and I’m sure I’ll sleep better not knowing.
Incidentally, I think shrouding worked better in theory than in practice. After a couple of new posts, people who hadn’t seen the initial shrouding post wouldn’t know to do it; and putting up a reminder to shroud this person just would’ve reminded them that they got a reaction.
Now when are we going to hear about FAHRENHEIT 9/11? Or whether Halle Berry in leather can balance out the, er, liberties they took with the character of Catwoman? (Ye gods, I can’t believe there’s a novelization of that.)
hm
Happen to know where it lives?
I’m not real happy to hear about anyone talking about a friend that way.
Peter:
Every man has his limit(s), yours are just higher than mine. I would have thrown the bum out a lot earlier; but hey, I’m only human.
Meanwhile, SBC/Yahoo is upgrading their webcenter again (which is stopping me from actually sending e-mails), so I have to post this here.
There is something you and Glenn should know!
Unless you caught a virus, whoever the “wat bastawd” is that was able to dupe your AOL account address is at it again!
Now they’re not only duplicating how you write your subject lines, but their attachments are nothing but a virus.
My PC is safe, but I just wanted to warn you, and this is the only way I could do it right now.
Take care, and I hope you catch him/her/them.
Man, I can’t believe you banned he/she. That was very low and I won’t support you or your books anymore!
Dee, at the very least was entertaining. At the most, Dee was probably the most thought provoking poster here! Shame! FOR SHAME!
Nah, just messing. Good to see you put your foot down.
I think shrouding troublemakers is a good idea but I have been wondered from the beginning if that will work all the time for you, PAD. Defending free speech is a good thing but I think there are limits – and what this person had to say is nothing worth defending, IMO. The contrary, it is worth protecting people against reading such filth.
Well, some people just can’t take the hint when they are politely ‘told’ to ****** off!
Can it be traced via the ISP? I am assuming that the USA has some form of slander laws that recognise abuse on the net, it has sort of worked over here.
Dear Mr David
I fully support the action you have taken. It is one thing to have the right to free speech – but this does not extend to putting up the equivalent of some-one phoning you up in the middle of the night to spew obscenities down the phone.
Good for you
warmest regards
dave
I’m not surprised. I knew he would continue until he just got on everyone’s last nerve, and that shrouding would only work if we assumed he wouldn’t escalate his attacks, like that one guy did several weeks ago when he filled a board with the word “ņìggër” and other spam.
I reiterate my suggestion of registered users, just like at the boards for the Internet Movie Database.
Luigi, the concept of registered users isn’t a bad thing. The use of the Internet Movie Database as an example, however, is. I can’t believe some of the incredibly stupid posts allowed on that site’s boards. I’ve read more than a few posts on some on IMDb’s boards that make some of he-who-shall-not-be-named’s posts seem positively insightful.
Take care, and I hope you catch him/her/them.
Actually, it’s probably S/he. I think 98 percent of computer hackers are Hermats (or at least pìššëd øff XXY and XYYs). Granted, 3/4 of all statistics are made up. Or 7/8 if you go by recent studies by the US government.
Works for me.
The only course of action I’ve seen used which was more amusing was on a local FIDO [DOS-level BBS network] board where the operator got so fed up with one idiot, who would change name but still use the exact same written mannerisms in insulting people, that he created a parallel BBS which was identical to the original with but two differences:
The jerk was the only one, operator aside, who had access to it, being shunted directly to it on arrival, and
No one else could see his postings.
End result? He was in a sort of limbo where he could see everyone else, but they, unknown to him, couldn’t see him.
Probably harder to manage on a Web-based system, unfortunately.
Good call, Mr. David.
You must have the patience of a saint to have tolerated that idiot for as long as you did. I doubt that any legitimate posters have ever had any question about your being honest and staightforward.
I agree with just about everything said here, especially the action of removing our ol’ pal.
It should also be said, in defense of your action (not that it needs it): in no way have you denied Dee his freedom of speech.
He can still spew his vitriol, offensiveness and insanity as much as he wants, up to and including creating his own website. Which, I suspect, PAD would (reluctantly) defend.
The adolescent just can no longer do it here.
You can (and should) certainly support the right of free speech. You are, however, under no obligation to provide it with a venue.
I’m glad to see something has been done about it. The level of vitriol and spite a lot of the political debates have garnered here has turned me off reading the comments on the majority of posts in general, so I think I missed this particular idiot.
Hopefully, things will return to a more civil, friendly baseline now.
I do not post here often. I have learned that the things I say Are often said out of emotion and without fully being thought through, so to avoid arguments, I keep my mouth shut.
I am a fan of Mr. David’s work and on the few times I have run into him at cons I have found him to be friendly and engaging. I rarely, if ever, agree with some of the political views express by PAD. But I do enjoy reading them because it lets me see things from the other end of the political spectrum and gives me something to think about.
It is one thing to have a difference of opinion, but if this “Dee” cannot respect opinions that differ from his own or express himself with constant vulgar person attacks, then he has no place as a GUEST of this site. If freedom of speech gives you the right to say what you want you should have to be responsible for what you say and live with the consequences if you choose not to respect that freedom.
Good for you Peter. I may not always agree with you, but I agree with this. Keep making us think.
-Tony Miello
It was the best decision, I think.
I’ve always tried to argue that free speech and ideas should always be protected and promoted, but of everyone who has every entered this site, Dee was the most vitriolic, obnoxious, and inappropriate poster I’ve honestly ever seen.
There’s respect for differing viewpoints on this site, but I’m also glad to see that there is a low threshold for tolerating crude and vitriolic hatred from someone with an axe to grind.
It was the right decision. There’s free speech, and then there’s being a disruptive voice of bile.
I’ll respect anyone who brings their opinions to the table in a constructive manner. Dee did not do that, and for that, I’m honestly sorry.
Good riddance indeed. And Mr. David still gets kudos for putting up with it as long as he did; I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t have banned that jerk on day one and be done with it.
I thought shrouding was an elegant solution, so long as Dee remained nothing more than a harmless crank – just the visual equivalent of white noise, a sign to scroll a little faster for a while.
However, vilifying an innocent third party goes beyond the pale. Mr. David, I salute your patience and tolerance in putting up with this creature as long as you did. And if you’d like your displeasure to take more physical form, I have some interesting connections in both Southern California and western Washington state…
I have moved to MT-30.D on my blog – mostly to help get rid of the comment spam, but user registration does have its advantages for people such as Dee.
I am also glad to see Dee gone. The only thing even remotely entertaining about her/his posts was the fact that despite this laughable
Just a question/observation made about the spoofing of your email…
Is it possible for someone who received one of these to check the properties and find out it’s origin? Is it possible this troll named “Dee” is also responsible for the email fraud?
Good call Mr.David. That “thing” had no place here anyway.
But…but…where will I go to get the latest in hate-filled juvenile idiocy?
(Good move, PAD. So does this mean Dee can’t even read the site?)
Ray, try Free Republic for your hate-filled juvenile idiotcy.
And in dedication to the removal of Dimbulb Dee from the site, I’ll really piss him off and recommend everyone run out to see Fahrenheit 9/11. The movie is every bit as amazing as the critics have been saying; Moore makes his case with sarcasm, irony, and facts galore. Moore might have been criticized for stretching the truth in the past, but this movie is so tight, it’s practically bulletproof.
If nothing else, it’s a helluva lot better than White Chicks. 🙂
Quoting Rich: Freedom of speech is one thing…slandering a guy’s family is another.
Me: To “defend” Dee, and to quote J.J.J.: “I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it’s libel.”
And I’d say something about Dee being banned, but I’m shrouding her, even now.
>Posted by: Robert Jung at June 28, 2004 12:02 PM
Ray, try Free Republic for your hate-filled juvenile idiotcy.
>And in dedication to the removal of Dimbulb Dee from the site, I’ll really piss him off and recommend everyone run out to see Fahrenheit 9/11. The movie is every bit as amazing as the critics have been saying; Moore makes his case with sarcasm, irony, and facts galore. Moore might have been criticized for stretching the truth in the past, but this movie is so tight, it’s practically bulletproof.
I saw the first showing. A great film that had me chuckling one moment and reminded of how hoarrified I am at the prospect of Bush returning for another term the next.
Hey Roger…. Moore is a great filmmaker and I adore the guy for what he does, but you have to admit that dispite using factual information, his way for editing this info and using various film clips to accentuate his point does at times leave the audience with a slightly skewed perception of some of his “facts”.
Fred
Hey, don’t look at me to defend him. You know MY position on Freedom of Speech and you took it a hellava lot longer than I coulda, woulda or YOU shoulda.
I will say this. I hope that next time it won’t take someone dragging your family into it to get you to cut ’em off. Dee and anyone else who gets personal on this forum should at least be suspended, or placed on probation, if not outright banned.
Glad to hear it. Sorry to hear he was spewing on your Wife’s sight too. What a pig.
Peter, I am actually glad that you banned the shrouded one. First, I was simply amused at his/her posts, but I got sick and tired of his/her attacks that were made on your religion.
I have an additional reason to want to see the shrouded one ban. You had to waste time on this person. Any time that you waste on the shrouded one in any fashion is time that you might be taking away from writing novels and comics. Frankly, I am a greedy bášŧárd and I rather have more stuff from you than any posting from the shrouded one.
PAD: “I want it known that the creature calling itself “Dee” (and a variety of other names) has been permanently banned from this site.”
And in the back of a sixth-grade remedial English classroom somewhere in America, the would-be troll’s head explodes in violent Scanner fashion after realizing they’ve been blocked from the site…
I hope that’s the last time you have to deal with them, PAD. Kudos on taking the high road, even though it didn’t work out in the end.
That OTHER John Byrne
PAD,
Kudos to you. You did the right thing. As Glen said when Dee first started spewing her hateful, anti-Semitic venom toward you, the fact that you not only didn’t ban her immediately and in fact wanted “everyone to see this poster’s words” and then tried to stop short of “banning” with Shrouding”:
“He has far more tolerance than me.”
I think that is quite true, and I find your adherence to your principles even in the face of pure, idiotic hatred and personal attacks to be quite admirable.
That said, you have made the right decision now. The Insane Poster went way over the line and will not be missed.
>Posted by: Dee at June 28, 2004 02:16 PM
>Who says I’m Banned??? Nice to know that free speech only applies to PAD & his lefty followers.
Welcome back ole buddy. Good to see you. Start making points in your statements and adding to a conversation and you’ll serve a purpose here. Otherwise, you are a lame duck with nothing better to do than hang around a place that you serve no purpose. Give my suggestion a try or simply continue doing what you are doing and simply look kinda sad.
Fred
Using a different computer. Ok, so dee either has a job or a friend. Which is the bigger surprise?
Dee, while I’m sure trying to appeal to you through logic will probably be as effective as pacifying a schizophrenic with adrenaline boosters, I just have to ask: You know we’re not interested in what you have to say. You know no one here has the least bit concern with your slanders, your insults and your nonsensical rhetoric. You continually promise to leave and yet continually return.
Simply put, why don’t you go somewhere else? I’m sure there are plenty of forums that are neither “dem” nor “lefty”, why not spend your energies in a positive fashion instead of babbling to people who consider you the village idiot and react accordingly?
Think before you type. You might find people are more receptive to you when you’re not the personification of the most disguisting traits one could possibly attribute to the human race.