I knew this would happen sometime or another…I never figured it would happen because of the relatively benign debate we were having in the “FIRST IMPRESSION IN TAIWAN” thread. This shows the obvious bias coming from the moderators. They don’t want to have any viewpoints contrary to the popular far right conservative anti-asian ones on this board. $10 bucks says they won’t do anything with the very racist Mailongdong but will ban all asians that voice similar viewpoints to mine in defense of asians. What a crock of B.S. i’ll be sure and send a message to both goldsea.com and asian-avenue regarding the obvious anti-asian stance this forum has adopted. It’s a damn shame really…I won’t be censored for my beliefs however. I have about 2000 anonymous proxies and many more e-mail addresses I can literally bombard this forum board with if I want to. For people that claim to be part of the “west” in ideology and thought you sure are acting like a bunch of armchair fascists with your censorship. Not surprising really…
Hmm, why do I think of the Travelling Wilburys now? “Congratulation”?
Or lets switch to the Beatles:
Something in the way you talk
might have to do with being banned now…
This is probably not about viewpoints, but about how you “express” them. There are people like Sandman who have in some cases a “slightly” opposite view to a few moderators, but I haven’t noticed so far Sandman would have been banned. I guess you will say something like he is not asian - right, but he also does not behave like you.
So instead of riding up on your “racial” wave, why don’t you get down and talk calmly and seriously, without insults, just as it could be expected even from 24 year old people…
I agree. It’s not what ABCguy said, but how he went about saying it. (He was just as blind to his own racism as everybody else, but I assume that’s not a reason for being banned.)
UrbanJet is another example of differing opinions; he had very different views from many people, and many heated debates followed (some of which were very good); yet throughout it all there was generally a sense of… respect for others (amazing!). (I miss him anyways, he had clear, logical arguments, and actually discussed things… what happened to him?)
I think the main issue is that ABCguy simply did not discuss. He had his own rigid (some would say narrow) set of thinking, accused other people of having rigid thinking, accused anyone from the West (except himself of course, and especially white people) as being inherently racist and out to get the Asian man down, sidestepped arguments, never conceded any points whatsoever (although he kept demanding others to ‘see the light’), physically threatened people, and blew up at anyone with differing opinions. That’s just not discussion, and IMHO his contributions generally didn’t add to the level of intellectual conversation. Plus his racist comments (which it seems like he could never see) often sparked very heated responses; as these responses to his posts were often reactions to insults (real or perceived), they in turn only added to the cycle.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind an official explanation from the mods as to why he was banned. I’m not paranoid it was racism, but I’d just like a clarification (even if he would never believe there’s any possibility beyond racism).
And ABCguy, your threats to ‘spam the website’ with your anonymous proxies is certainly not helping your cause; it simply reinforces the opinion most have of you being immature.
(By the way, I say all this in a calm, non-attacking manner. Seems like I have to state this often sometimes lest people misinterpret my intention. Plust I rarely get to use the word lest.)
Hello Olaf, LittleIron,
I feel you summed up why ABCguyXX – and a number of others – were suspended last night. Many thanks.
Here’s what it all boils down to for me: is your online behaviour so offensive to others that it inhibits discussion? If it is, you aren’t welcome.
Our team of moderators at ORIENTED recently discussed a short list of members who clearly violate the spirit of these forums. I banned the entire list. Some of the members will be invited to return at some point. Obviously, some will not be invited.
Folks, if you feel a member in your discussion is way out of line, please make your case to the moderator of that forum or by sending e-mail to problems@oriented.org
A reasonable explanation of your views will likely lead to a warning for that member, and an eventual suspension if that person chooses to ignore the moderator’s warning. Please take the Rules of the Forums above as a guideline. The moderators have ultimate say in how they manage their forums.
I think it is a shame that anyone was banned. If he was threatening violence or being vulgar to no end then maybe it was justified, but being insulting is not really enough. Just an opinion… please don’t ban me too!
quote:
Originally posted by LittleIron: I think the main issue is that ABCguy simply did not discuss. He had his own rigid (some would say narrow) set of thinking, accused other people of having rigid thinking, accused anyone from the West (except himself of course, and especially white people) as being inherently racist and out to get the Asian man down, sidestepped arguments, never conceded any points whatsoever (although he kept demanding others to 'see the light'), physically threatened people, and blew up at anyone with differing opinions.
It’s amazing how you point out all these things I supposedly said and did but yet you totally ignore the most blatant racists on this board such as Mailongdong and others. I didn’t threaten anyone until they started making remarks about my mom and derogatory racial insults towards asians. I think that’s the point you are missing…or you choose to ignore it to demonize the asian man (as usual.) I was provoked before I said anything at all…obviously you don’t get it. Whatever though…
quote:
And ABCguy, your threats to 'spam the website' with your anonymous proxies is certainly not helping your cause; it simply reinforces the opinion most have of you being immature.(By the way, I say all this in a calm, non-attacking manner. Seems like I have to state this often sometimes lest people misinterpret my intention. Plust I rarely get to use the word lest.)
What cause? it’s already apparent the MODS have chosen sides…and surprise surprise i’m probably the only one that really got banned. I don’t see a “list” of people that were banned so I assume i’m the only one.
Gus, would you please reveal the names, or shall I say “handles” of those who you banned?
Also, how can you ban anyone in effect? Is it not easy to change identities? If ABCguy24 has 2000 e-mail proxies and so forth, what is to stop him from pulling a phoenix every day? (Assuming that what he says is true, which I very much doubt.)
By banning him you just force him to pop up under different names. No we can’t be sure if it’s him or not.
What’s with all the political correctness anyway? Why not just delete the offensive posts and warn him?
Maybe some think he’s offensive but maybe others think his childish tirades are funny.
Basically, we’re adults here. Why can’t we decide what we want to read for ourselves?
Whew, I really hate to do this but I agree with some of the things ABCguy had to say when he started this thread. I suggest the moderators apologize to him and reinstate him unless they are willing to discipline all posters who are equally abusive and offensive. Anyone on Oriented knows that there are others (and I do not have to name names) who have exceeded his penchant for poor taste. This decision reeks of hypocrisy.
I could speculate as to why this happened but then I might get banned too (if my conjectures were too close to the mark). I am not particularly fond of the way ABCguy communicates but while we shouldn’t make sweeping generalizations because of one action, his accusations of racism are beginning to ring true if the abusive white boys get to continue their shenanigans with impunity.
Ahh… Postscript,
I agree with the suggestion of letting him back in and just letting things roll. I don’t think it is a good idea to set up new rules, or enforce the old rules, to stem low-caliber posts. As this moderator decision indicates, enforcement would be arbitrary and subjective. Reconsider this ukase and follow Spike Lee’s advice, “Do the right thing.”
quote:
Originally posted by chessman71: What's with all the political correctness anyway? Why not just delete the offensive posts and warn him?
There might be another, perhaps easier way - the “ABC way” if I may say so: Reading a few threads ABC participated in I noticed that he does not like to respond to questions or statements where he would have to step back or admit something, he simply ignored such posts. The same “freedom” (though it might not be very polite to respond only to pleasant questions) applies to everyone here…
Jelly: Afaik, there are a few people that were banned, not only ABC. And I doubt they all were Asians. But maybe the moderators could post a short announcement to clear things up and prevent speculations and conspiracy theories - after all, this was not 9-11 and the mods are not the US government…
I banned four members last night:
Thomas Jefferson
Timmy
Mai Longdong
ABCguy24
Wolf, you are right about ABCguy pulling a Phoenix. But what can be done about it? :s
People, please remember that the moderators are volunteers – and as such, we could use your help. Let us know of problem posts and “bad” members by writing to the respective moderators or to problems@oriented.org.
We may take some time to act on your recommendations (ok, I’m actually just referring to myself here). But please keep the feedback coming.
Btw, I found it really weird banning someone who took the name “Thomas Jefferson” 
Timmy and Thomas Jefferson were banned permanently because they were racist trolls. We are discussing whether or not we want ABCguy and Mai Long Dong back again. It’s a decision that we all make together - so don’t go blaming Jeff or Gus or Angst or Christine or me or any of the other moderators.
When somebody is banned we look at the ip addresses of where the majority of the posts are coming from, and suspend those addresses, in addition to the offender’s handle. If we didn’t have this option available to us, this forum would fill up quickly with cyber graffiti. We have had people in the past who have posted the same message dozens of times in the space of a couple minutes, and it is only through the vigilance of the moderators that this can be prevented.
You banned Mai Longdong too? What is this, tealit?
Again maybe he has a really childish screen name and maybe he had some posts that some people didn’t like. So what? Why couldn’t those posts just be deleted?
Seriously, he often made decent contributions to discussions. If a discussion gets out of hand, just it shut down.
How are we supposed to be one big happy disfunctional family this way?
Looks like I have to get on my knees and beg for mercy. To the mods, sorry for implying that your decisions were arbitrary. I was apparently, ahem… wrong. (oh that hurts!)
I agree with one of Chessman71’s points though. Bring back MLD and … ABC. (If you bring back one, you must accept the other.) Yet Chessman71, don’t you think that closing down renegade posts is a bit extreme? Several of the wacked-out posts have evolved into something reasonable. And I certainly don’t like the idea that a topic I’m interested in could get whacked because a couple of misfits decided to get naughty.
I agree with you. Sure, closing down renegade posts may be a bit extreme but I was merely suggesting the lesser of the two evils be employed.
Knowing how the moderators love feedback ( ) , here’s mine. I agree with the decision to ban Timmy and Thomas Jefferson. I had complained about them earlier. I disagree with the decision to ban ABCguy and MLD, although I can see why it would be a tough call. MLD seems to be posting for his own amusement more than anything else, while ABCguy seems to have a persecution complex. Anyone remember Foghorn Leghorn and Kid Banty?
Still, some of their posts are informative or enlightening, and aside from a few rhetorical threats by ABCguy early on, I haven’t seen much worth banning them over. Of course, the moderators know best how they want to shape these forums…
This banning thing seems like a big PR excercise, and I really don’t see the point in doing it.
It is so simple to get a free web-based account and re-register under a different user name. This wil go on again and again. Timmy, ABC and the others will be back, it is the nature of the beast, and the WWW.
If you really want to make this effective then you need to make it a registration requirement that the main email account used is the one provided by your ISP.
Do not allow any web-based accounts! But then how many users would you lose? At least all the ones who use internet cafes and do not have internet access at home.
Catch 22!
Keep it simple, if you don’t like the post then delete it. Although, that will take us back to the situation we had last year with the open forum and the moderating dramas.
It is really up to the users to ‘bite their tongue’ and not respond to troll-like or inflamatory material. Is this not what we are supposed to teach children?? “Sticks and stones etc etc…?”
Keep both of them out.
Their statements could be made in a better way.
Moreover, I believe that people not posting under their own name are all sissies.
I say let 'em back in. MLD and ABC guy anyway. I dont remember anything the other guys said but maybe because it wasn’t so ammusing. From what I could tell it was mostly only ABC and MLD going for eachother’s bait and getting steamed up in their work cubicles (everybody else learned to ignore these guys a while ago). Maybe they could be invited back into the oriented world but in a “safe forum” so to speak, where the rest of the oriented population can be kept safe from their hurtful words. Family, friends, well-wishers and sympathizers could visit them there, and after they do they’re time, they can again be released into society at large…