Invective, prejudice, and baiting have no place on FT. While a good start has been accomplished, much work remains to be done before we reach our potential as a community of tolerance. Dovster constantly issues offensive, racist rants which violate the TOS. Today is only the most recent shameful example:

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr.../019123-2.html

Randy, isn't it time to take a firm stand against prejudice and hate on FT? People who write like this have nothing to contribute except bigotry.

Please tell me your kidding?

Also, please tell me what your "other" id is. You seem awfully bent on policing a community of which you are not part of.

Mary

[This message has been edited by Mary2e (edited Jan 18, 2004).]

timeout for (public) timeout-requests?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forumcgi/search.cgi

Calling people ragheads, terrorists, or murderers is hate speech and is against the TOS. It doesn't take a person to have 1,000 posts to know this when is happening. OMNI is not a forum for spewing hatred and right-wing ideology. Freerepublic.com is the place for that if one is a neanderthal.

I see that subsequent to my post, the latest hateful, bigoted post by Dovster has been deleted by skofarrell. Good work!

And posting with a second id is also against the TOS.

I didn't get a chance to see the post since it was already deleted so I can't comment on that. But I can comment on Dovster's style in general as he is a regular and valued poster on the DL forum. He is at times irreverent and outspoken (BTW, so am I) but always entertaining, humorous, thought-provoking and very helpful to all his fellow posters whether regulars or newbies. The Dovster you describe is certainly not the one I've come to know. And, yes, I do catch many of his posts in the OMNI forum as well.
My two cents worth on a fellow DL forum poster who in just a few months has become an indispensable part of our forum.

Do as I say, not as I do. Being the self elected policeman of FT is a higher calling than actually following the TOS.

As the offensive post has been deleted by the moderator, and the majority of us have not seen it, it would not be fair for us to pass judgment on him. From what remains of Dovster's posts on that thread I see nothing wrong. In all fairness to Dovster, I have found his posts on the DL board to be intelligent, witty and he is not what the originator of this thread has described him to be.

In addition, I try to avoid the Omni board as many of the subjects discussed there can become emotional and do have a tendency to get out of hand.

Finally, as suggested, the IP address of the accuser should be checked by the FT staff as I suspect that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

I normally would not involve myself in nonsense threads like this (except for something on a humorous and satirical note), but I also want to vouch for the integrity of Dovster�s character. He is quite a valuable member of FlyerTalk, and I always look forward to his contributions.

Dovster is an intelligent, generous FlyerTalk member who offers his unique, thought-provoking and humorous perspective on many issues. He also selflessly offers assistance to those FlyerTalkers who request it. I could offer and link the FlyerTalk threads which illustrate the numerous valuable contributions that Dovster has offered, but they would be way too numerous to list here in this post.

Apparently Dovster made a mistake in a post referenced by the aforementioned thread in OMNI, as it had been edited by a moderator. I have not read the post in question myself. This should not excuse Dovster if he indeed violated the terms of service of FlyerTalk (and he has supposedly subsequently been warned), but he does not deserve the attempted public character assassination instigated by a supposed FlyerTalk member who blatantly and intentionally violates the terms of service by posting using a multiple FlyerTalk handle to promote his/her own agenda.

Threads such as this one serve no other purpose than to:

• attempt to malign the reputation of an otherwise exemplary fellow member of FlyerTalk, and
• to waste everybody�s valuable time.

I disagree, Canarsie. Violating TOS is like a speeding ticket: everyone, however much a productive citizen, who breaks the law gets a ticket. Simple as that. Plus, it sends the message that posters with some history are allowed to flout some rules because of who they are. What does that say to newbies?

Now, that is just my opinion. I don't know either the tread starter or Dovster and don't post all that often in the DL forum.

Please read my most recent post in this thread again, tcook052, especially the portions I highlighted in bold type in the last part:

FlyerTalk members who violate the terms of service as a first offense receive a warning, which Dovster allegedly did receive from a moderator in the OMNI forum. I read my post again carefully, and not once did I encourage anyone to have Dovster be excused from being appropriately penalized for his actions.

If this is not Dovster�s first time violating the terms of service of FlyerTalk, I will repeat what I wrote:

As for defending Dovster�s character, I did so because the original poster in this thread decided to attempt to publicly assassinate Dovster�s character in a manner that appears to be slanderous in nature. Instead of starting this thread, the original poster should have privately e-mailed the moderator.

Even if Dovster violated the FlyerTalk terms of service multiple times, criticizing a fellow member of FlyerTalk publicly in a forum is generally frowned upon, unwarranted, and certainly not encouraged.

What purpose does threads like this serve to new members of FlyerTalk � or anyone else, for that matter?

tcook: what a fascinating analogy.

I daresay that if everyone who reads these forums and did not speed sometime in the last three days posted now, there would be no more posts.

I went out for a fifteen minute errand earlier today and probably speeded four different times. The speed limit on my street is 25 mph, which NOBODY obeys, not even the postman or garbage truck.

The police only stop you for speeding if you are egregious, 15 or more mph over the limit or endangering.

When that is the case, I like your metaphor. That should be EXACTLY how moderators evaluate posters' performance ala the TOS.

As to dovster, I join the chorus that his participation is valued, whatever his sin was is minimal and erased, and ftomnibox is a troll.

------------------
"It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..."

I have never, ever, called any person a raghead. I defy you to find such a quote from me anywhere -- on Omni or off.

I have also never made any bigoted statement and have stated on numerous occassions that it is not fair to confuse Arabs or Moslems with terrorists.

The accusations made against me by ftomnibox are simply lies. There is no diplomatic way to put that.


I did call a woman who walked into a Haifa restaurant and blew herself up -- killing 21 other people -- both a terrorist and a murderer. That is not bigotry. That is recognizing the simple facts of life.

Today, I posted for the final time on Omni. After two people wrote in supporting me, the thread was immediately locked for being about another FT Flyer -- even though it was not.

Someone else started another thread and that, too, was locked -- saying that it should be posted on this board.

Below is my locked thread. It includes my original "hateful bigoted post". You are all free to make up your own minds both about the post and about my feeling that Omni's moderation is so strongly oriented towards the Left that free discussion on Omni is now impossible.

--------

This is my last post on Omni. There really is no point in continuing discussions when one side is allowed to flame freely while the other side has its posts censored, and is threatened with being banned, even when no flame is involved.

Omni, apparently, is doomed to become a sterile zone where Leftists can hotly debate whether homosexual marriages should be legalized first in North or South Dakota or whether Hillary or Dean is best suited to be president. Nothing more controversial will be allowed.

The following items appeaered on a thread which was closed. The posts, however, were not removed and remain there for anyone to see:


Didn't ap2110 post on Dec 29, 2003 03:41 PM, the following racist comment:

"I refuse to ride in a cab driven by a raghead, I just wave them on and catch the next one even though I just stood in line at LGA for 30 minutes at the taxi stand."
So we're supposed to listen to him on this topic?

***

Again, you beat me to it! I find myself asking, why all these Islamophobic topics? What is this, a one-person campaign to bring back the Crusades?

***

He and his friends are on a crusade to bring back the Crusades. Must be an ally of Osama bin Laden ... who also wants a neo-crusade/neo-counter crusade.

***
On another thread, the following was allowed to stand, [b] I feel like I'm talking to a kindergartner. Please think before you post. Ah, well... [/B}

***

I, myself, was the subject of the following flame: : this is nothing more than a personal opinion dishonestly represented as the official intent of the artists in question.

The above all have three things in common:

1. They are flames.
2. They were allowed to remain on Omni.
3. They were flames of by members of the Left about members of the Right.

What was NOT allowed to remain was a post I made which contained no flame at all.

When I asked why it was removed, the moderator wrote to me saying I should "Not to give all the reasons that Doppy is an ... for taking his position."

(Note: That was a typo by the moderator. Doppy was not involved at all.)

Number 1: I did not call anyone an .... I also did not use any other perjurative.

Number 2: I did not cite the reasons why the originator of the letter was an ....

What I did do, is note both what he said and what he did not say. (The full letter appears at the end of this post so you can judge for yourself if what I am saying is true.)

Apparently the moderator felt that by pointing out both what he said and didn't say, I made it obvious to the reader that the originator was an .... That may or may not be true, but the moderator certainly was not going to allow someone taking a position from the Left to be subjected to that possibility.

In recent months, posters from the Right have been repeatedly suspended and/or banned. If that has happened to anyone from the Left, I have not heard of it.

Can it be because those of us on the Right are the ones who flame? Obviously not, as the above quotes prove.

In December, I told one poster that something she said was straight out of Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I still feel that way but would not have been surprised if that letter had been considered "flaming". Apparently, it was not. Had it been banned, I would not have objected.

I have never, other than that, ever written any letter which an impartial person would consider flaming.

Still, I have been threatened with suspension and had the following letter removed. (Note: I am replacing the originating poster's name with XXX. I am not doing this because I believe I flamed him. I am doing this so the moderators will not have an excuse to remove this post. If it is to come down, let it be clear to all that it is being removed because the moderators can not abide having their Leftward orientation exposed.)

BANNED LETTER:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by XXX:

Israel has the right to withdraw her ambassador from Sweden in protest but the rat doesn't have the right to destroy the art in Sweden.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

XXX used a harsh word: "Rat".
He used no such word to describe the mass murderess.
He used no such word to describe the artist who honored her.
He used no such word to describe the Swedes who allowed the exhibition.
Only one person warranted such a denunciation from XXX: the Israeli diplomat.
A few months ago Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was murdered while shopping. Ms. Lindh was not particularly loved in Israel as she was one of its harshest European critics. If an Israeli museum were to put up an exhibit honoring her assassin, I wonder if XXX might use his harsh words a bit differently.





[This message has been edited by Dovster (edited Jan 21, 2004).]

I guess I am astonished that we can live with threads about shaving pubic hair, and then this thread gets locked.

There is a poster who is using a pseudonym and that is OK.

Please, help me understand this.

Sure. Here you go:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum97/HTML/000899.html