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Public Service: Ban Robert Hewson, please!
TPM,
We've all been patient with the software.
But please, for the love of God, ban Robert Hewson's long, off-top, thread-clogging blogs, from EC or anywhere else!
Let's rec this. And leave your name somehow, to add to the petition.
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Comments (73)
Preview, please!
that, of course, should read: "off-topic" etc.
October 6, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
TPM, you can delete this blog PETITION as soon as you unclog the threads (especially at EC) by banning Robert Hewson.
He is entitled to his speech, but not entitled to clog threads and gum up the conversation with blogs that are off-topic.
October 6, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obamabots would like to see all political discussion on the internet reduced to "Obama good, McCain bad."
Hewson is obviously committed to something besides ditto-head praise for the unprincipled sociopathic Messiah Barack Obama, and the form of his posts doesn't really matter to Obamabots. Hewson just provides a convenient excuse to lobby for "community policing" of the site... meaning constant enforcement of Obamabot articles of faith.
Meanwhile, Obamabots pass over Obama's shameful vote for the Wall Street bail-out in silence.
Dennis Kucinich, a real progressive leader instead of a soulless self-promoting sociopath like Obama, has posted an honest analysis of the bail-out on Common Dreams...
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/03-11
"The central flaw of this bill is that there are NO stronger protections for homeowners and NO changes in the language to ensure that the secretary has the authority to compel mortgage servicers to modify the terms of mortgages. And there are NO stronger regulatory changes to fix the circumstances that allowed this to happen.
We should have created a mechanism for our government to take a controlling interest in mortgage-backed securities and use our power to work out a new deal for the homeowners. We could have done this. We should have done this. But we didn't.
Now millions of Americans will face the threat of foreclosure without any help. And the numbers will soon rise for a number of reasons. Not only because of the Alt-A, jumbo mortgages which will soon be reset at higher interest rates, but because the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is pushing up rates on adjustable mortgages and more than half of the US adjustable mortgage rates are tied to LIBOR. Homeowner defaults will grow in significant numbers. Let's see if Congress will be as quick to help homeowners on Main Street as they were to help speculators on Wall Street.
Now the government will have to borrow $700 billion from banks, with interest, to give banks a $700 billion bailout, and in return the taxpayers get $700 billion in toxic debt. The Senate "improved" the bailout by giving tax breaks to people in foreclosure. People in foreclosure need help paying their mortgage, they do not seek tax breaks."
October 6, 2008 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
This person is utterly pro-Obama. It has nothing to do with his (or her) point of view. It has to do with being obnoxious.
October 6, 2008 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
So there.
October 6, 2008 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was talked about quite a bit on the threads on was on. At times it was all people were talking about. And there many here that are against it, and many who felt that the credit freeze was too great a threat. It was debated as it should be. But you can keep your little view of this community if that makes you feel all snug and superior.
October 6, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
We could ditch Jacob Freeze, too. And I second the petition.
October 7, 2008 7:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
10 states got Countrywide/Bank America to cough up billions yesterday to refi mortgages for homeowners who face foreclosure. As usual Kucinich's ideas are good but his plan is politically impractical.
I've seen lots of complaints from those who say the bill's language isn't strong enough, the Bushies will game the system, etc. etc. I agree the language is murky and leaves a lot open to interpretation. But Bushies only have a few months left and I expect Obama's implementation will adhere much closer to the intent.
I also believe it's better to wait til we have a Dem administration and more and better Dems in congress to write the rest of the legislation that's needed.
Finally. Jacob you're a loser, you've always been a loser. You apparently like losing and have no interest in being part of a governing political party. That's not change we can believe in.
October 7, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
second
October 6, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, for ratings!
October 6, 2008 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, especially with the original Scoop system (if you even remember what it was like, better than Drupal, the last software.) Something like this problem could easily be hidden by a rating below 1. It would be visible on the "hidden comments list" accessible only to trusted users (with high karma score). Trusted users could check the list and add zeroes to make sure it stayed hidden or uprate it if they thought it had been unfairly hidden.
Kos still uses this function I believe, in their custom software. Though for ratings they just switched to plus and minus rather than numbers, it appears to me that they still have hidden comments and trusted users reviewing them. (It is the main reason for "tip jars," so people who don't post a lot of comments but post blogs can get "karma" for their blog.)
Don't get why more forums don't demand someone make a software with community policing compatible with current tech needs. It only makes sense to figure out a way for community to help with policing, rather than have to have staff do it. Staff never has the time to do it on high volume sites. Using human labor moderation simply doesn't work for sites that want immediate posting and high volume. There are many smaller volume sites that do use human moderation quite well, but they require keeping comments on hold until the moderator is able to get to them, so it is not too good for discussion.
October 6, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this person had anything to contribute to the board, it would be okay. But all he does is suck up bandwith. Enough already.
October 6, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, please. It is just spam and is never connected to any current conversation.
October 6, 2008 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bad grammar, syntax, rambling, OK.
Off topic, inane and too long spam, not OK.
October 6, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I fourth or fifth it.
October 6, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree.
If he wants to comment, fine, but the long posts pimping his own blog are too much.
October 6, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I recommended the post and I stand by my opinion on this spam - it's theft. It is stealing bandwidth from Josh who charges advertisers for bandwidth.
October 6, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I vote no. I defend the right of people to say things with which I disagree.
October 6, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I absolutely defend people's right to say things to which I disagree. I don't believe that people have the "right" to spam. From what I gather, I think this dude agrees with me. It's just a waste of space and is spam, so I think it should be removed.
October 6, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
This has nothing to do with free speech. If I read Hewson I'd probably agree - he's not a troll. He's a spammer - that's way different.
October 6, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought spammers just tried to sell you auto insurance.
October 6, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Publish blogs just like everyone else then. But don't clog the threads with entire blogs with huge spaces.
October 6, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously. There are multiple people who leave links to their own blogs after a short, to the point, comment.
If Hewson did that, fine. He doesn't, and banning him has nothing to do with the content of his speech, it's the damn QUANTITY.
Not quality.
If posters were banned based on quality, well, this might be a lonely place. : )
October 6, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now you tell me, right after I posted a link to him, on Stillidealistic's daily recommend thread.
But seriously; have you gone to his link. It is not even his site, or creation. He has copied the entire blog post of another person, and just posted it in it's entirety, with a link to it.
October 6, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I definitely co-sign.
October 6, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign with gusto.
October 6, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
+1
October 6, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Same here. There is a think called manners. Posting someone else's work, or even one's own, in it's entirety, regardless whether on topic, is R-U-D-E, and needs to stop -- or be stopped.
October 6, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, his blog sucks too. I have said it before, if he can't figure out that it is a "comment" section and not a "my-blog-post-of-the-day" section, he deserves to be banned. Kick him to the curb.
October 6, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Patria or muerte. Venceremos.
October 6, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I endorse this message!!
October 6, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen.
October 6, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I twenty-second this motion.
October 6, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
signed
October 6, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
he does this on other blogs, I see it all over the place.
October 6, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've complained to the mods a couple of times about this bozo. I heartily agree that he should be banned.
Trolls I can live with; at least they're sometimes good for a laugh....!
October 6, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed.
October 6, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
October 6, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Hive in an uproar! Amusing. Swarm on. Swarm on.
October 6, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look. If you really think the guy is violating the terms, email lila, the site admin, at TPM. Just use the comment link on the front page with lila in the subject and ask her to get rid of him. No need for all this uproar. Unless it's a cry for attention from someone who has nothing else to blog about.
October 6, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
You commenting on this thread is a cry for attention (which because of my bleeding heart I'm giving you).
October 6, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah..for the first time in a long time this is not Billy crying for attention. If you notice only his own avatar/persona has commented so far on this post. That really is an amazing selfless feat for Billy who usually has 2 or more of his alter egos show up on the same thread; all of them pat Billy on the back for his "brilliance". I thought for sure that at least Cypher would show up to stroke Billy's ego about the echo chamber/hive comment.
Sorry Bill, just have to give you shit. Actually I do enjoy your posts and comments. You really are a good insightful writer. Just be yourself though, nobody likes feeling like they are being taken for a ride.
October 7, 2008 2:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. But I think he's been reported many times; maybe Lila isn't really seeing the scope of the problem. If you just go to one or two of his comments he simply looks long-winded and OT; it's only if you read regularly that you see his indiscriminate cross-posting and how that interferes with the purpose of the venue. As CT pointed out the problem is the QUANTITY, not the quality.
But I suspect the issue may be that this type of mindlessly repetitive spam doesn't seem to explicitly violate the official TPM comment policy. It should, and perhaps getting that changed is where we should be directing our efforts.
October 6, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've never read it, but if it's a block post it is definitely a violation. Of course the people who spammed him are equally moronic. I remember a night when some people, most of them no longer around, started that with David Seaton and some guy jumped in and spammed them mercilessly by copying their spam back to their own posts until they were all begging for mercy. You should have seen the whining. The entire Hive was in an uproar.
On a serious note. lila is trying to restore some semblance of dignity and decorum to the reader blogs. email her if you see someone being rude or otherwise breaking the rules of engagement.
October 6, 2008 8:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Billy Glad:
A noun, a verb, and "The Hive". That is all he has.
October 6, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You left out "echo chamber"
October 6, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that echo chamber effect, is Billy listening to the bees in his bonnet.
October 6, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The echo chamber has degenerated into a Hive. Next week I begin my masterpiece: Annals Of The Hive. You won't want to miss it.
October 6, 2008 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looking forward to it because you are sooooooooo much smarter than the rest of us here.
October 7, 2008 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rather than banning anyone (censorship), wouldn't it be better to install a filter that allows readers to hide offending posters? That's not so difficult a piece of software.
Oh, wait. This is TPM. Never mind.
October 6, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
They had that here, they gave it up.
Original version they had comments ratings which allowed trusted users to keep zero'ed comments hidden, with Scoop software version of TPMCafe. It was the best system because trusted users with high ratings were able to police unfair hiding of comments and put them back or make sure they stayed hidden.
Then they changed to Drupal software which still had rating but took away the trusted user review and was supposed to allow all users to hide low rated comments if they wanted to. But that never worked well.
Then they got rid of all of that for the Movable type system you are currently using, which stresses a "American Idol" popularity contest promoting blogging and blog churn and individual expression rather over stressing comment version discussion. Marshall stated on one of the threads complaining about the new software that he decided he didn't want the comment ratings anymore, that they caused too much meta discussion and angst.
They ae soon going to change it again, allowing for the ability to track lengthier discussions and favorite posters, butwith no community policing ability. It's something, better than nothing. That should offer a tiny bit of the kind of "filtering" you want, if you use the tracking functions to access the site, following the kind of posters and posts you prefer, and ignoring the kind of inflammatory or "breaking news!" posts that attract a huge audience of lowest common denominator, and the inevitable trolling and spam that goes along with it. It's less likely that a group involved in a quality civil discussion over several days will tolerate crap interference and noise, or that the noisemakers will even find be able to find such threads.
October 6, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thirty-thirded (or so).
October 6, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Same here.
October 6, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
They've banned people for various reasons in the past. They can do it again.
October 6, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
You all have me curious as to what Robert Hewson has posted. Admittedly I don't read most posts, particularly if they have Palin or McCain in their titles, but I have completely missed the posts which generated this thread.
October 6, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chris,
Go to this thread:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/obama_camp_hits_back_at_mccain.php
click on the comments link, page down to near the bottom of them, and you will find what this Hewson chap has posted.
If you then click on the link he provides, you will discover that it is not his blog, and he merely lifted the entire thing, without attribution.
October 6, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks liam.
October 6, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lucky you, Chris. Mostly they end up at EC. But I've seen them on Cafe threads as well.
October 6, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Having followed liam's directions I understand now why I am ignorant of the guy. I always skip such interminable, meandering posts.
I come here to learn new things. In fact, at the very top of the directions above the blog editor it states.
October 6, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
which would be fine if the person posted blogs here. but he doesn't. just on the threads...
October 6, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Irony?
October 6, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps.
October 6, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
So there's this poster who a few times a week posts a slightly long comment that's imo stupid and worthless. I never had any problem at all skipping them with my little old scroll wheel.
On the other hand some of the people here complaining about hewson posted 50 page long comments multiple times in the same thread to totally shut it down. And some of the people complaining about hewson supported those who posted those 50 page long comments. At the time quite honestly admitting their purpose was to shut down all possibility of other people commenting on the thread and became righteously indignant when some here complained.
See that's why I love you people. You make me laugh.
October 6, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you were accurate it was a few times a week, rather than the reality of two, three, four times a day, your comment might have some validity. Since you are not accurate, your comment doesn't.
And it is not to shut down the thread, but for the purpose of driving traffic to the blog site. In others words, money is most likely the only motivation.
October 6, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I looked at his profile page and some days there's 2 posts, some days 1 and some days none. 2 on oct 6, 2 on oct 5, none of oct 4, 1 on oct 3 none of oct 2, 1 on oct 1. This doesn't seem like spamming to me.
Unless he has a second account you're the one who is wrong.
October 7, 2008 4:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
My point was not that Hewson is trying to shut down blogs but that some of the people in this thread a couple of months ago did attempt to do that very thing. Until they were shut down by the management.
And there in lies the humor in my mind. Some of these people complaining here did in fact attempt to censor dialog by spamming threads, something you admit that Hewson is not doing.
October 7, 2008 4:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat
Let him post.
October 6, 2008 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
After this blog went up, there have been no further posts by the individual referenced in this petition. It is unclear whether tpm intervened or the person was shamed by the blog being up, or possibly it's just a fluke.
So we have a mystery. But it's been a peaceful afternoon with no clogged threads at EC. Don't know about threads at the cafe however.
October 6, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's still around. If his profile and comments are around, he's around. You are going to have to report him to lila. Why not have her suggest to him that if he wants to remain a part of the community, he'll have to start blogging those long comments. Maybe he honestly doesn't know the difference.
Did some of you actually spam him? What good did that do if it wasn't his blog? You're really lucky you didn't get banned for that kind of behavior.
October 6, 2008 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
People having saying this to him over and over and over. And not even to blog, but to just give a sample intro and then the link, and no one would care. Obviously, he is not an adult who can hear other people. A drive by spamer who posts then takes off. It is about driving traffic to his site. That is all it is about. So there is no reasoning, no talking to. It has been tried and it doesn't work.
October 7, 2008 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
ooooohhhhhhhh, Lila!
Please save your website's bandwidth, without having to disturb the flow of substantive comment.
Excellent; thank you in anticipation.
K
October 6, 2008 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Complaints like this are far more disruptive to the community than the person you're complaining about. You encourage the trolls and drive other newbies like me away.
So go ahead and call me a troll now. I've been called worse.
October 7, 2008 4:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't worry, you're fine.
October 7, 2008 4:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
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