For an overview of why this blog was started please see the Introduction.
I've decided to shut down the blog. I've been getting inundated with spam lately and its just too much work to filter through all the spam to find the few legitimate comments. I'm also moving to a new email, if you would like to contact me you can send me an email at: MadScientistX11@gmail.com
To see the petition against censorship at the Huffington Post please click here.
Cheers,
Red Dog
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Is Ariana really a Feminist?
Here is an email I received from a newly banned Huffpo user named RushZappaFan the other day that pretty much speaks for itself:
I am so f'ing stunned by being banned by HuffPo that I have to vent. I am the CEO of a public health agency in canada and a men's health advocate (its Movember). I responded to an article about discrimination of women by mentioning how patriarchy is killing poor un-educated males in staggering numbers and now I am banned. I believe in the truth - rationalism. I now see HuffPo as another corporation who stifles constructive dialogue if it might cause their target demographic to start looking elsewhere for answers. keep up the good work. Any one on the side of truth is good, and visa versa.
I am so f'ing stunned by being banned by HuffPo that I have to vent. I am the CEO of a public health agency in canada and a men's health advocate (its Movember). I responded to an article about discrimination of women by mentioning how patriarchy is killing poor un-educated males in staggering numbers and now I am banned. I believe in the truth - rationalism. I now see HuffPo as another corporation who stifles constructive dialogue if it might cause their target demographic to start looking elsewhere for answers. keep up the good work. Any one on the side of truth is good, and visa versa.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Huffpo/AOL Escalating to Physical Threats
Artist-53 recently sent me an email about an exchange she had with a Huffpo User called The Green Hornet:
I thought I would share the ultimate HP/AOL reality/insult with you. I was physically threatened on HP on Sept.21pm. I immediately reported it to HP's legal dept. as soon as I saw the comment on the eve of 9/21/11, as I was watching the Troy Davis story unfold online. No reply from HP. I figured they were all busy doing the same thing, re: Troy Davis.
The next morning 9/22/11, I reported it to HP via the Contact Us link. No reply. I reported it again, and received a form letter stating that I should not use threatening words etc., because HP guidelines do not permit it. I emailed them back, stating I was the one that was threatened. Still no reply. Mean while I flagged it for abuse, but the threatening comment remained up and I posted a comment to someone that stated they also clicked the Flag as Abuse link, but HP would not post my response.
Yesterday Thurs Sept 22, I called AOL Corporate, finally as a last resort. The conversation went like this: I clearly stated the issue, read the offensive comments, she agreed it was offensive and transferred my call. After being placed on hold a few minutes, I went through the entire story again:
"Do you have an account?"
"No, though I have an AOL email account."
"Well Mam there isn't anything I can do."
"Seriously? Because this is in complete opposition to HP posting policy. Can you transfer me to someone so I can make a formal complaint?"
"I can't do that Mam, we don't have a complaint dept."
"Well can you transfer me to HR, Human Resources?"
"I can't do that Mam"
"Are you aware that there are federal laws in place that take threats over the internet very seriously?And I certainly take threats as being very serious as well."
"There's nothing I can do."
"Then that means that AOL and HP are complacent regarding threats and do not follow their own guidelines. And the threat is still up on the thread."
Click..... she hung up me.
I then called the cyber unit at Fl.'s States Attorneys Office and explained the situation. The individual thought it sounded creepy, and gave me a number to Fl. Law and Enforcement, Cyber Unit. The individual felt it was also a very strange odd comment on HP, as well as the fact I had no response from HP and that AOL hung up me. She said that if I wanted to proceed with a civil suit I could, I stated no She took down all information,so that it would be documented in case I received any more threats. At least it would be documented. But unless it grew to more than this one time, they didn't have any recourse at the moment, but as long as this one was documented.
Below are the posts, and I do have copies of all HP form letters. The article was Bank of America Violated Whistleblower Provisions I commented on 9/15/2011 and my comment was benign, a word play on his name.
In response to his off the wall comment concerning BoA. GreenHornet also changed his avatar by the next day. From a fake black male (I enlarged using Photoshop) to I have no clue what it is. It took him a week to respond to my peyote comment. That's when I was threatened.
From RedDogBear: Here is a screen snapshot of the exchange as of today 10/1/11 it is still up.
I thought I would share the ultimate HP/AOL reality/insult with you. I was physically threatened on HP on Sept.21pm. I immediately reported it to HP's legal dept. as soon as I saw the comment on the eve of 9/21/11, as I was watching the Troy Davis story unfold online. No reply from HP. I figured they were all busy doing the same thing, re: Troy Davis.
The next morning 9/22/11, I reported it to HP via the Contact Us link. No reply. I reported it again, and received a form letter stating that I should not use threatening words etc., because HP guidelines do not permit it. I emailed them back, stating I was the one that was threatened. Still no reply. Mean while I flagged it for abuse, but the threatening comment remained up and I posted a comment to someone that stated they also clicked the Flag as Abuse link, but HP would not post my response.
Yesterday Thurs Sept 22, I called AOL Corporate, finally as a last resort. The conversation went like this: I clearly stated the issue, read the offensive comments, she agreed it was offensive and transferred my call. After being placed on hold a few minutes, I went through the entire story again:
"Do you have an account?"
"No, though I have an AOL email account."
"Well Mam there isn't anything I can do."
"Seriously? Because this is in complete opposition to HP posting policy. Can you transfer me to someone so I can make a formal complaint?"
"I can't do that Mam, we don't have a complaint dept."
"Well can you transfer me to HR, Human Resources?"
"I can't do that Mam"
"Are you aware that there are federal laws in place that take threats over the internet very seriously?And I certainly take threats as being very serious as well."
"There's nothing I can do."
"Then that means that AOL and HP are complacent regarding threats and do not follow their own guidelines. And the threat is still up on the thread."
Click..... she hung up me.
I then called the cyber unit at Fl.'s States Attorneys Office and explained the situation. The individual thought it sounded creepy, and gave me a number to Fl. Law and Enforcement, Cyber Unit. The individual felt it was also a very strange odd comment on HP, as well as the fact I had no response from HP and that AOL hung up me. She said that if I wanted to proceed with a civil suit I could, I stated no She took down all information,so that it would be documented in case I received any more threats. At least it would be documented. But unless it grew to more than this one time, they didn't have any recourse at the moment, but as long as this one was documented.
Below are the posts, and I do have copies of all HP form letters. The article was Bank of America Violated Whistleblower Provisions I commented on 9/15/2011 and my comment was benign, a word play on his name.
In response to his off the wall comment concerning BoA. GreenHornet also changed his avatar by the next day. From a fake black male (I enlarged using Photoshop) to I have no clue what it is. It took him a week to respond to my peyote comment. That's when I was threatened.
From RedDogBear: Here is a screen snapshot of the exchange as of today 10/1/11 it is still up.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Censored Comment on Feminism
If you are new to this blog please see the Introduction.
If you have an example of censorship on The Huffington Post you would like to share please send me an email at: RedDog071@gmail.com
To sign the petition against censorship at the Huffington Post please click here.
Haven't posted any deleted comments in a while. I have mostly given up thinking anything is going to change at Huffpo and also just haven't been posting much or when I do post its shorter comments that don't get censored. I've mostly given up trying to have any serious discussions on Huffpo. Its just too frustrating when comments get censored for no reason just as you are having a good interaction with someone.
But I felt that I had to post the following example On a recent article about the new Remake of the Peckinpah movie Straw Dogs user weebils posted the following comment:
I see zero reasons for remaking this movie. It is a classic that was transforming at the time and it was hard to watch. I see some people on here posting about the female lead and how the movie was demeaning to women. I remember the times and this movie was actually a reflection of many issues that needed to be aired. It is easy to just blame men. But the fact is many women of the time did behave in childlike ways because that was expected. It is hard for many people to understand that at one time women were treated like children. Even in the sixties and seventies in the United States a husband was required to be present when a woman wanted to conduct business. A husband could do many things without the consent of his wife but it was not a two way street. Many women did use sexual or childish ways to get what they wanted Look at the antics Lucille Ball went through just to get a few extra bucks from Ricky. Look at the way he spoke to and treated her. That was on national TV and considered totally acceptable. Someone asked me once why Jackie O spoke in such a childlike voice. Again, that was considered appropriate for women. The movement was not just about liberating how men thought. It was also about liberating how women though about themselves and behaved. As I tried to reply to it the comment was deleted.
I thought this was a very thoughtful comment. I can see how some feminists might disagree but certainly that's the kind of issues that should be discussed, but no the comment was deleted. You may notice that my image has changed. It reflects that I'm spending more time blogging at richarddawkins.net where I am Red Dog
If you have an example of censorship on The Huffington Post you would like to share please send me an email at: RedDog071@gmail.com
To sign the petition against censorship at the Huffington Post please click here.
Haven't posted any deleted comments in a while. I have mostly given up thinking anything is going to change at Huffpo and also just haven't been posting much or when I do post its shorter comments that don't get censored. I've mostly given up trying to have any serious discussions on Huffpo. Its just too frustrating when comments get censored for no reason just as you are having a good interaction with someone.
But I felt that I had to post the following example On a recent article about the new Remake of the Peckinpah movie Straw Dogs user weebils posted the following comment:
I see zero reasons for remaking this movie. It is a classic that was transforming at the time and it was hard to watch. I see some people on here posting about the female lead and how the movie was demeaning to women. I remember the times and this movie was actually a reflection of many issues that needed to be aired. It is easy to just blame men. But the fact is many women of the time did behave in childlike ways because that was expected. It is hard for many people to understand that at one time women were treated like children. Even in the sixties and seventies in the United States a husband was required to be present when a woman wanted to conduct business. A husband could do many things without the consent of his wife but it was not a two way street. Many women did use sexual or childish ways to get what they wanted Look at the antics Lucille Ball went through just to get a few extra bucks from Ricky. Look at the way he spoke to and treated her. That was on national TV and considered totally acceptable. Someone asked me once why Jackie O spoke in such a childlike voice. Again, that was considered appropriate for women. The movement was not just about liberating how men thought. It was also about liberating how women though about themselves and behaved. As I tried to reply to it the comment was deleted.
I thought this was a very thoughtful comment. I can see how some feminists might disagree but certainly that's the kind of issues that should be discussed, but no the comment was deleted. You may notice that my image has changed. It reflects that I'm spending more time blogging at richarddawkins.net where I am Red Dog
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Banned for a Trig Truther Comment
Here is a new example of censorship from Huffpo user nalinpalinnow:
Hi, here is my summation of my banning experience at HuffPo which I posted in comments at the Business Insider article on Palin's story about Trig's birth. Once again, no profanity, bombast, ad hominem, etc. Just a comment that rubbed someone the wrong way. My entire commenting history of 2 years deleted without recourse. I wrote politely twice asking to see the comment which they banned me for no response.
BANNED!!
I would like to share this weird experience here. I am not a particularly passionate commenter on HuffPo and more often than not I make a light joke on a puff piece. Nor do I comment every day but maybe 3 or 4 times a week. Like many here, yes I am fed up with their hypocrisy and sad excuse for a liberal newspaper, but I don't particularly boycott sources of information. For example I am quite proud of nominating C4crap for worst blog of all time which they well deserved, but it doesn't mean I won't go there and look at it.
Imagine my surprise when this comment which I attempted to post only twice last night (count 'em, once, twice, that is it) resulted in this email today:
"Your account has been suspended for possible violations of Huffington Posts Term of Use until it is possible for a senior moderator to review. A senior moderator will review your account in the next two business days and will reinstate it if possible.
If you wish to contact us about this situation, you may write to: community-support@huffingtonpost.com
Thank You,
Danielle
Moderator-In-Charge
__________________________________________________________________________________-
Here is the comment which got me banned:
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, the far right conservative who now controls Huffington Post, also happens to be a major financial supporter to SarahPAC. Is this why “Trig Birther” threads are now disallowed on Huffington Post?
Here was the piece that was passed on by Huff Po, "Sarah Palin's Version Of Trig's Birth May Be More Troubling Than The Hoax
Read more: Business Insider Article on how Huffpo's new AOL Overlords are Conservative Republicans
______________________________________________________________________________
I have never been banned from any site on the entire world wide web, including even C4P. I've never even gotten a warning from any site ever. I used to double, triple and quadruple post links to my old blog or to palingates on HuffPo back in 2009, and never heard a thing from them about that. But an attempt to post this comment twice last night results in this. Wowser.
I really wanted to share this here so that others would know the level of censorship on this issue. Actually it is quite mind blowing to me. I don't care, because frankly I'm always a little uncomfortable that my snark and some personal opinions of mine will live on in the annals of HuffPo for all eternity, so they may be doing me a big favor if they decide to continue this ban. Whatever. I will not be writing to them about this because I just don't care to engage their silliness.
Back in Feb. Business Insider didn't seem to think that the new CEO TA would make a difference in the "progressive" slant of the rag. I beg to differ.
"Armstrong had AOL buy Huffington Post because, unlike AOL blogs, it has been able to attract a dedicated and loyal audience. If the Huffington Post does that by appealing to progressives, Armstrong is not likely to fix what is not broken. He's a capitalist with too much money on the line to do anything like that." This article goes on to talk about some of the political donations "libertarian" TA and his wife have made.
To read more: Business Insider Article on how Huffpo's new AOL Overlords are Conservative Republicans
Click here for NalinPalin's blog.
Hi, here is my summation of my banning experience at HuffPo which I posted in comments at the Business Insider article on Palin's story about Trig's birth. Once again, no profanity, bombast, ad hominem, etc. Just a comment that rubbed someone the wrong way. My entire commenting history of 2 years deleted without recourse. I wrote politely twice asking to see the comment which they banned me for no response.
BANNED!!
I would like to share this weird experience here. I am not a particularly passionate commenter on HuffPo and more often than not I make a light joke on a puff piece. Nor do I comment every day but maybe 3 or 4 times a week. Like many here, yes I am fed up with their hypocrisy and sad excuse for a liberal newspaper, but I don't particularly boycott sources of information. For example I am quite proud of nominating C4crap for worst blog of all time which they well deserved, but it doesn't mean I won't go there and look at it.
Imagine my surprise when this comment which I attempted to post only twice last night (count 'em, once, twice, that is it) resulted in this email today:
"Your account has been suspended for possible violations of Huffington Posts Term of Use until it is possible for a senior moderator to review. A senior moderator will review your account in the next two business days and will reinstate it if possible.
If you wish to contact us about this situation, you may write to: community-support@huffingtonpost.com
Thank You,
Danielle
Moderator-In-Charge
__________________________________________________________________________________-
Here is the comment which got me banned:
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, the far right conservative who now controls Huffington Post, also happens to be a major financial supporter to SarahPAC. Is this why “Trig Birther” threads are now disallowed on Huffington Post?
Here was the piece that was passed on by Huff Po, "Sarah Palin's Version Of Trig's Birth May Be More Troubling Than The Hoax
Read more: Business Insider Article on how Huffpo's new AOL Overlords are Conservative Republicans
______________________________________________________________________________
I have never been banned from any site on the entire world wide web, including even C4P. I've never even gotten a warning from any site ever. I used to double, triple and quadruple post links to my old blog or to palingates on HuffPo back in 2009, and never heard a thing from them about that. But an attempt to post this comment twice last night results in this. Wowser.
I really wanted to share this here so that others would know the level of censorship on this issue. Actually it is quite mind blowing to me. I don't care, because frankly I'm always a little uncomfortable that my snark and some personal opinions of mine will live on in the annals of HuffPo for all eternity, so they may be doing me a big favor if they decide to continue this ban. Whatever. I will not be writing to them about this because I just don't care to engage their silliness.
Back in Feb. Business Insider didn't seem to think that the new CEO TA would make a difference in the "progressive" slant of the rag. I beg to differ.
"Armstrong had AOL buy Huffington Post because, unlike AOL blogs, it has been able to attract a dedicated and loyal audience. If the Huffington Post does that by appealing to progressives, Armstrong is not likely to fix what is not broken. He's a capitalist with too much money on the line to do anything like that." This article goes on to talk about some of the political donations "libertarian" TA and his wife have made.
To read more: Business Insider Article on how Huffpo's new AOL Overlords are Conservative Republicans
Click here for NalinPalin's blog.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Some Articles on the AOL Purchase of Huffpo
Here are a couple of interesting articles on the AOL purchase of Huffpo. Feel free to comment with your opinions or links to other articles.
The Controversial Huffington Post-AOL Merger: 7 Questions That Matter from AlterNet
AOL Buying the Huffington Post for $315 Million from TPMLivewire
The Controversial Huffington Post-AOL Merger: 7 Questions That Matter from AlterNet
AOL Buying the Huffington Post for $315 Million from TPMLivewire
Friday, February 11, 2011
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