This is in response to the numerous calls for getting ac dropout banned (I’m starting a new thread on it since it seems most of the dialogue pertaining to this is making its way into various other threads and causing a bit of a mess…)
As far as I can tell most of us agree mr. dropout is a bit of a troll, seems not to have a coherent grasp of the reality of this island, often seems to post for the sake of posting and, yes, expresses, from time to time offenisive notions…BUT I would think denying him or anyone else the fundamental right to make an ass of themselves in public goes against the very spirit of an open forum. For better or worse he’s one of the few posters who views the KMT and their leadership in a more positive light than the DPP and its leaders. Granted it would be nice if he could come up with more intelligent and insightful reasons for holding such a view (then again perhaps the fact that he can’t has more to do with the intrinsic ideological and moral bankruptcy of the KMT than his own powers of argument? 
)…still, there’s value to be gained in hearing from ‘the other’ side. And if the arguments of the other side come across as asinine, evasive and half-baked well…who is surprised anyway??? One final thing - as I’ve stated before, we’re all perfectly free to simply IGNORE him. I’d hate to see this place turn into a forum for preachers to preach to the choir. No fun in that! I vote let him rant and rave and jerk himself silly.
I have no problem with different political views. In fact there are a few posters here who are well known for having different views from the majority, and they are definitely a much-appreciated part of the forumosa community - as much as anybody is. I do have a problem with people hijacking a lot of threads with off-topic remarks. We are not here for one person to promote his or her personal agenda at the expense of the integrity of other topics. We are here for everybody to express their views. Especially when the onslaught of new posts is so great, it overwhelms threads and the ability of volunteer moderators to manage them. ac_dropout is averaging over 32 posts per day. He needs to learn some self-restraint. If he can’t it’s only a matter of time before he gets reined in.
32 posts a day…mostly in taiwan politics…if he could only post less there might be an argument for keeping him on after all i enjoy a good flame as much as the next man…but he needs to talk on topic and be a bit more respectful regarding taiwan society…in the end i think his greatest crime is a complete disrespect for the nation of taiwan (hence the suspicion he’s a mainland troll) and for the large number of us who for better or for worse have put our “foreign” shoulders to the wheel (to paraphrase allen ginsburg)
I don’t understand why anyone would regard his apparent disrespect as a “crime”. He should be free to disrespect (and respect) anything he likes.
I agree with Maoman, however, that he needs to stay on topic more… even though I don’t see going off topic as a bannable offense. I think the only reason his going off topic is even an issue is due to the prolific number of his posts.
Ultimately, however, I am not offended by his posting… so far.
my point is his disrespect leads him to say things without realising they will cause offense…ie 228 was actually japanese patriots killing immigrant chinese…of course he can say it if he explains what he means and is careful how he phrases it but this stuff just seems to pop out with no explanation ( a la prince philip)
But then, how do we set a standard for appropriate, non-offensive statements? I mean, its fairly easy to agree on prohibitting hateful racist, sexist speech and posts that threaten violence.
But, how do you set a standard for other speech that might be offensive to some but not to others?
The essence of free speech is the freedom to both state opinions and rebut opinions.
As long as we are free to rebut (and or ignore), I think that should suffice.
It’s not a matter of respect or odd comments - suce has Juba’s 911 conspiracy thing.
He’s swamping the Taiwan politics forum, and should have a very good slap over the wrist for doing so.
Add to that his newest “Nazi” comment, and he’s got me fired up all right.
Tell him to behave, someone, and if he dows not get the hint, then throw him off.
He can post his opinions, but jeez, it’s getting a bit overwhelming over there.
[quote=“Mr He”]It’s not a matter of respect or odd comments - suce has Juba’s 911 conspiracy thing.
He’s swamping the Taiwan politics forum, and should have a very good slap over the wrist for doing so.
Add to that his newest “Nazi” comment, and he’s got me fired up all right.
Tell him to behave, someone, and if he dows not get the hint, then throw him off.
He can post his opinions, but jeez, it’s getting a bit overwhelming over there.[/quote]
I agree with you on the sheer volume. He’s posted 30 times in a 13 hour period. (After a promise to slow things down). I could care less about his opinions. But he has got to learn some basic netiquette.