The Ethics of Banning Trolls 754


With genuine reluctance, I find myself obliged to ban Larry from St Louis from commenting on this blog.

I am extremely happy for people to comment on this blog who disagree with my views. It makes it much more interesting for everybody. I wish more people who disagree would comment.

But Larry has a different agenda. His technique is continually to accuse me of holding opinions which I do not in fact hold, and which he thinks will call my judgement into doubt.

Take this comment posted by Larry at 9.35 am today:

I’ve re-read your post on the Russian spies, and once again you’ve proven to be a complete dumbass.

I predicted Russia claiming (in some minor way) those idiots. You didn’t. You thought it was a conspiracy.

You’ve once again self-indicted.

In fact my view on the Russian spies was the exact opposite of what Larry claims it was. As I posted:

I don’t have any difficulty in believing that the FBI really have discovered a colony of Russian sleeper spies in the United States.

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/06/those_russian_s.html#comments

This is not Larry being mistaken – remember he claimed he had just re-read my posting. It is rather indicative of a very deliberate technique he has used scores of times, that of claiming I hold an opinion which he believes will devalue my other arguments in the mind of other readers, when I do not in fact hold that opinion.

He most often – indeed daily – does this with reference to 9/11. He tries to divert almost every thread on to the topic of 9/11 and to insinuate that I am among those who believe that 9/11 was “an inside job”. In fact, I am not of that opinion and never have been.

I have put up with this now for months, but Larry’s activities have become so frenetic and are so counter-productive to informed debate, I am not prepared to put up with it any more. I am also deeply sucpicious of the fact that he is able to spend more time on this blog than me, and to post right around the clock (often as with this one at 9.35am – think about it – what time is that in the US?).

Anyway, sorry Larry, your derailing days are over.

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754 thoughts on “The Ethics of Banning Trolls

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  • Alfred

    AVATAR SINGH IS A TROLL

    Avatar Singh said:

    “I donto want to reply to this despicable characther called alfred”

    Why do so then?

    “but here is my repky to those who think that british empire has bene for good of the victims.

    No one here said that.

    “and yes macauley did say that sentence-it is on record.”

    You claimed he said it in a speech to the British Parliament in February 1835. But, as you now acknowledge, that was impossible because he was in India at the time and spoke in Parliament at no time in 1835.

    So if he made the statement that you allege that he made, and which is quite contrary in sentiment to statements he did make on the subject of Indian education and government, where did he make it and when? Obviously, you don’t know because you copied and pasted the lie from someone else.

    “besides he did many more harmful things.”

    Come on, this is bullshit. State what you mean or shut up.

    “first enlgihs economy is based on ysery and it can do no good to anyone except thse english parasites. that is why such parasites need to be eliminated through military conquest and not by talkin uselss to low lifes .”

    This is inflammatory, and quite possibly criminal under the law of the United Kingdom. I would urge the moderator of this site to consider deleting the post just made by Avatar Singh.

    Further, your advocacy of war against Britain is consistent with what you have advocated elsewhere on the Web, including incitement to the murder of Glaxo exectives.

    http://engforum.pravda.ru/showthread.php?274280-british-bastard-glaxo-is-at-loot-again-kill-glaxo-executives.&p=3041012&viewfull=1

    “so how is your afgan war going alfred?”

    If you bothered to check any of your facts, you would see that on my Web page I have consistently opposed the war against Afghanistan. But shoot first, ask questions later is evidently your approach.

    “The British Empire’s fate was sealed in mid-2007”

    There is no British Empire and has been none for over fifty years.

    “The power of the empire rests in its ability to control the supply and price of money. It does this through a network of central banks, such as the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, and the European Central Bank. These so-called “independent” central banks are creatures of the empire, which views itself as sitting above mere nation-states.”

    Oh yeah, sure. England rules the waves and Obama takes his orders from David Cameron — suuuuuure.

    As for the rest, well who cares, it’s just cut and paste as anyone can confirm for themselves with a google search for the first few words.

  • Alfred

    Crab,

    Re: “But the current food supply reacts to the demands of the population also. Food supply can be dynamicaly altered, population much less so.”

    That’s true, but there are limits, and adequate adjustment is possible only as long as times are reasonably good. A major drought in China, India, or America and we could be in trouble. Dynamic downward adjustment in population is distressing in the extreme — as during the collapse of the Soviet Union when millions died prematurely as the result of economic dislocation causing malnutrition, stress, hypothermia, etc.

    In fact, what will happen in the event of a global food shortage is that stress will be transmitted to the poor via market mechanisms while the rich continue to eat steak. An ugly prospect that might lead to a 1930’s type political upheaval and war — as already being advocated by Avatar Singh.

    Re: moods

    Do you know about trace lithium? Quite possible not relevant, but interesting. Some decades ago there was research indicating that lithium may be an essential element. There was also some interesting but less than totally compelling research indicating an inverse relationship between suicide, violent crime and lithium in drinking water. Some info is to be found through a google search for “Schrauzer” and “lithium”. Schrauzer was at the University of California and specialized in effects of trace minerals on health.

    Here, lithium containing products are rare, although in Europe some mineral waters, e.g., Vichy water, are rich in lithium. I wonder if that is why the French Government was located in Vichy during WW2, they just kept glugging the water so the occupation didn’t seem so bad.

    San Pelligrino water also contains lithium (200 micrograms per litre, which could be a useful daily dose) according to Wikipedia article, even though nothing about lithium appears on the label.

  • glenn

    Interestingly enough, Cuban soil apparently contains fairly high levels of lithium. It’s possible that Cuban cigars have a more uplifting effect than cigars from elsewhere because of this. Then again, if one is enjoying the Caribbean sun, drinking some very agreeable Cuban rum while smoking a fine Montecristo (for pennies on the pound), that in itself might well contribute to the uplifting effect.

    (More on the population discussion later, short of time right now.)

  • crab

    “adequate adjustment is possible only as long as times are reasonably good.”

    Thats an indistinct phrase. To say food “governs” population, and the gist i take from your descriptions of the relationship, is saying that food supply quite exclusively drives population numbers. It could be the fundamental relationship you describe, but for the extra complexety involved in the world, food production buffers, land use, transformation (plants to meat), distribution (subsidy, taxation > pricing, and waste)

    In crisis we *could* currently, reduce bloated meat consumption which would free dozens of times as much grains for human consumption, if we arranged to, we could also build up much better stores of non perishables, but it seems like we/(profit maximising market traders) currently pass on fluctations to the poorest countries in the world instead.

    For most Europeans food supply has no direct effect on their lives, food pricing is how we contact with the logistics of supply. iirc The cost of eating is around 15% of the overall cost of living in a modern society.

    Food supply only acutely pressures reproduction and survival during crisis, where production technology, conditions and economic reponses combine to result in unaffordable prices, starvation, ill health, worried aspirations.

    There is,

    human instinct,

    combined with local and cultural norm.

    And,

    cost of living/reproducing

    rents and taxes, theraputics/ medicines, education/ arts, advertising and other mind numbing media, clothes, tools, toys, … food)

    It is a very complex matter to me.

    Avatar Singh, sorry i havent time to say much about your perspective. Take care to mind history but perhaps as well the differences in the present. All the best to you and your kin.

  • Stephen Jones

    Avatar has stated where the speech was made. It is well attested, as it is well attested that the British government did the best it could to weaken the Indian education system for the racist reasons given in Macauley’s abominable claptrap.

  • Avatar Sikh

    Why the fuck can’t you all use real names? Suhaaayl? Avatar?

    What a bunch of wankers This blog needs to be moderated, badly.

    You are all islamist anti Zionist lowlifes

  • Suhayl Saadi

    And for some more light relief, here’s a ‘Borat’-like piece, pasted. I don’t know who the author is; as I said, someone e-mailed it to me. It’s hilarious and is totally un-PC, thank goodness:

    ‘Muslim suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife. Emergency talks with Al Qaeda have so far failed to produce an agreement.

    The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death will be cut by 25% this February from 72 to only 60. The rationale for the cut was the increase in recent years of the number of suicide bombings and a subsequent shortage of virgins in the afterlife.

    The suicide bombers’ union, the British Organization of Occupational Martyrs or B.O.O.M., responded with a statement that this was unacceptable to its members and immediately balloted for strike action. B.O.O.M.’s General Secretary Abdullah Amir told the press, “Our members are literally working themselves to death in the cause of Jihad. We don’t ask for much in return, but to be treated like this, is like a kick in the teeth”.

    Speaking from his garden shed in the West Midlands in which he currently resides, Al Qaeda chief executive Osama bin Laden explained, “We sympathize with our workers concerns but Al Qaeda is simply not in a position to meet their demands. They are simply not accepting the realities of modern-day Jihad in a competitive marketplace. We realize that young people are our future, and today’s youth blow up so quickly. “And thanks to Western depravity, there is now a chronic shortage of virgins in the afterlife. It’s a straight choice between reducing expenditure and laying people off. I don’t like cutting benefits but I’d hate to have to tell 3,000 of my staff that they won’t be able to blow themselves up this year.”

    Spokesmen for the union in the North East of England, Liverpool, Ireland, Wales, New Zealand and Australia stated that the strike would not affect their operations as “… there are no virgins in these areas anyway”.

    The Scottish Al Qaeda spokesman said they had not had any suicide volunteers since the emergence of Scottish singing star, Susan Boyle. Now that Scottish Muslims know what a virgin looks like they are not at all keen on going to paradise.’

  • Alfred

    Stephen said:

    “Avatar has stated where the speech was made. It is well attested, as it is well attested that the British government did the best it could to weaken the Indian education system for the racist reasons given in Macauley’s abominable claptrap.”

    Stephen, you are a hopeless gul.

    When Avatar Singh offers, without a word of apology for his previous false attribution, a new source for the fake Macaulay quote, you suck it up without a moment’s hesitation.

    But the Avatar is just spinning another lie.

    Here is the full text of the minute referred to:

    http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_minute_education_1835.html

    Benthinck, who approved the minute, was Governor General at the time.

    So where’s the quote? It ain’t there.

    But the minutes are well worth reading because the make it clear why Macaulay was considered one of the three most important English Liberals of the 19th century and why it is inconceivable that he made the statement that the lying “Professor” Avatar Singh alleges.

  • Alfred

    Glenn,

    Re: Cuban soil apparently contains fairly high levels of lithium.”

    Ha, the perfect sedative. Dr. please renew my prescription for Cohibas — to be smoked as required.

    Apparently, not only do Cuban soils have a high lithium content, but tobacco plants accumulate higher concentrations of lithium than most crop plants, lithium enhances the nicotine content of tobacco and some cigarette producers use a solution of lithium salts as a humectant in the processing of tobacco (my grandpa used molasses, which seemed to work).

    But yeah, I got stuff to do too. See ya later.

  • Suhayl Saadi

    A ‘gul’ in Persian means ‘a flower’. ‘Gulistan’ is a classic of Persian literature (‘The Rose Garden’), by Saadi of Shiraz. So, Alfred, were you calling Stephen a flower? How nice. Or was ‘gul’ webspeak shorthand for ‘gullible’, or ‘seagull’? Or was it just a misprint?

    Cuban cigars wake one up and are CIA-explosion-proof.

  • Alfred

    Suhayl,

    Let’s hear it from you. Are you a gul or a gull? Do you accept the legitimacy of the outrageous statements made by Avatar Singh. No bullshit now. Do you agree:

    “enlgihs economy is based on ysery and it can do no good to anyone except thse english parasites. that is why such parasites need to be eliminated through military conquest and not by talkin uselss to low lifes .”

    You think the English are parasites should be eliminated through military conquest or not. yes or no?

  • Suhayl Saadi

    Alfred, I’ve already dealt with this on several threads, including this one and an older thread on which you seemed to misunderstand my intentions (re. the distribution of wealth in C19th Britain and the Victorian working class, etc.) and the points I was making – please look several hundred posts ago on this thread – and then and now my criticisms of the manner in which ‘The English’ were being essentialised were made very clearly.

    No, of course, I don’t agree with such statements. I also have no difficulty with answering direct questions.

    It is possible – indeed, it is necessary – to take a consistently anti-imperialist position and not to essentialise people by either ethnicity or nationality (or religion).

    But what does a ‘gul’ mean in this context? I’m genuinely puzzled.

  • Alfred

    But what does a ‘gul’ mean in this context? I’m genuinely puzzled.

    Really? With your grasp of the English language so wickedly forced on the inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent, it is surely not that difficult for you to infer. Spell it with two els, of you prefer.

  • Alfred

    Suhayl,

    You said:

    “I’ve already dealt with this on several threads, including this one and an older thread on which you seemed to misunderstand my intentions”

    Oh, and “please look several hundred posts ago on this thread… ”

    Yeah, sure, I’ll just screw off.

    But first let me ask you three more direct questions.

    Do you accept Avatar Singh’s assertion that Thomas Macaulay said:

    “I do not think we would ever conquer this country [India], unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and therefore I propose that we replace her Old and ancient education system, Her culture, for if the Indians think that all that if foreing and english is goodand greater than their own, they will lose thier self esteem, their native culture and and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”

    You haven’t already dealt with that.

    And further, did Singh give a false source for that statement not once, but twice?

    And last, is it not clear that Singh is either a person of buffoonish incompetence in dealing with historical evidence, or someone who persistently engages in Anglophobic hate speech?

  • Suhayl Saadi

    Alfred, why are you being aggressive towards me? I didn’t tell you to “screw off”, nor did I insinuate it. I answered your direct question very directly. I have no idea what Macaulay said; I cannot comment it because I don’t know.

  • Suhayl Saadi

    And, Alfred your comment on the English language is just unwarranted in relation to me. You’re in a mood, Alfred. Please just go for a stroll of something and cool off. Smoke a Cuban cigar or something. “Walkin on the beaches, looking at the peaches…”

    Ahem.

  • Suhayl Saadi

    To answer the question yet again, I quote from myself, two to three posts ago:

    “No, of course, I don’t agree with such statements…

    It is possible – indeed, it is necessary – to take a consistently anti-imperialist position and not to essentialise people by either ethnicity or nationality (or religion).”

    That applies not just to avatar singh, of course, but in general.

  • Alfred

    ” I have no idea what Macaulay said; I cannot comment it because I don’t know.”

    Well you should know that he did not say what Avatar Singh alleges he said on February 2, 1835 either in Parliament or in a minute for the Governor General because I have provided links establishing that he did not.

    Rather than engaging in diversions, distractions and irrelevances, it seems to me you might have provide some support for my contention that Singh’s defamation of Macaulay based on false references should be unacceptable here, or for that matter, anywhere.

  • Richard Robinson

    “Well you should know that he did not say XYZ because I have provided links establishing that he did not”

    You should make a public confession of faith in Alfred when he quarrels with someone else (chorus: nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition !) Is it only Suhayl, or is everybody going to be badgered like this ? is it because he asked if you were calling Stephen a flower ? Or do exploding Cuban cigars touch a nerve ? Well, they would, I suppose. Got to hurt, that.

  • Stephen Jones

    There are two separate speeches regarding Macauley (and one spurious one).

    There is the Parliamentary speech of 1833 and the education minutes of 1835. Both show an ignorance of Indian and Arabic civilization and a racist plan to create a group of Indians with British tastes and interests who would then use the inferior vernacular to pass the wisdom on to the masses.

  • Alfred

    Stephen said:

    “There are two separate speeches regarding Macauley (and one spurious one).”

    Yeah, and I’m talking about the spurious one, which no one here seems to have the wit or integrity to acknowledge is a piece of hateful Anglophobic propaganda.

    Macaulay’s rationale for recommending a European education for the Indian elite was in no way racist. It made certain sincerely held assumptions about the superiority of western science and philosophy and the benefit to the Indian elite of becoming familiar with that wealth of knowledge.

    But perhaps you think that without westernization India would be transforming the world with software written in Sanskrit.

  • Alfred

    “Well you should know that he did not say XYZ because I have provided links establishing that he did not”

    Richard, we’ve already established your handicap with a rational argument. Go back to your rubber duckies and helium balloons.

  • crab

    About Richards’ performance your comment must be making use of the royal “we”

    Computing power is ultimately limited by energy supply. But its more complex than that in practice.

    “I’m talking about the spurious one, which no one here seems to have the wit or integrity to acknowledge is a piece of hateful Anglophobic propaganda. ”

    At first i thought it might be real, then put it down to satire, and that Avatar had slipped up. But one mistake is no big deal to me. Colonisation has historicaly involved domination and destruction of culture, even outlawing languages. It is no news that agents of the process were horribly demeaning and ignorant towards their partners/subjects/victims.

    I dont think Avatar is quite fluent in our language and some posts i read as a splooshing stream of frustrated conciousness. Frustration at disparity and callousness of civilisation i empathise with.

    “But perhaps you think that without westernization India would be transforming the world with software written in Sanskrit.”

    Why not, in a parallel universe. Things could sure be better.

  • crab

    …you weren’t really being serious about the genetic superiority of the english earlier were you?

  • Richard Robinson

    “your comment must be making use of the royal “we””

    grin. Ta, crab.

    Personally, I wish the Chinese had invented computers. The time that’s been wasted by 8bit character tables …

  • Richard Robinson

    Oh dear, I can’t resist … “What do you mean ‘we’, paleface ?”

  • Stephen Jones

    —–“Macaulay’s rationale for recommending a European education for the Indian elite was in no way racist. It made certain sincerely held assumptions about the superiority of western science and philosophy “——-

    Which assumptions were both grotesquely ignorant and racist.

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