Mr.
Thomas Smith:
On
behalf of the SftP Moderating
Council (MC), I want to inform you
of our decision to put you on
probationary ban from the list for
a period of approximately three
months, ending on January 31,
2014. We will send you a notice
when the time comes to rejoin the
list on February 1, 2014 if you so
chose with the understanding that
similar conduct will result in
your permanent ban from the list.
A
collegial and constructive mode of
conduct is essential to the
wellbeing of the list and
fulfilling of its goal.
Unfortunately,
from time to time the purpose of
the list and individuals who have
joined are undermined by
destructive conduct.
In
your recent posts, not only you
have chosen to attack individuals
who you disagreed with but also
call them names. Such behavior
cannot be tolerated as it
undermines the very purpose of the
list and people who have joined
it. What is worse, when two
members of the MC—Herb Fox and
Mandi Smallhorne—tried to
draw your attention to the norms
of conduct as specified by our
Guidelines, you not only did not
heed their request but also
attacked them.
Below
you can find examples of your
conduct:
On
October 25, responding to Herb Fox
you wrote:
“It
is just another canard you are
creating, Mr. Fox. You seem to me
to be a pseudo-liberal, who would
like people to believe he has an
open mind, but whose only real
claim to “liberalism”is that he
tries to shut the Marxists up.
This sort of hypocrisy infuriates
me about you ‘liberals.’”
October
26 post written in response to a
post by Mandi Smallhorne
addressing Herb Fox’s attempt to
draw your attention to the list’s
Guidelines you wrote:
“What
a naughty boy am I for violating
the bullshit-“liberal,”in reality
anti-communist and demagogic rules
insisted upon by Mr. Fox.”
On
October 26, in another post you
called Mandi Smallhorne a liar:
“Ahhh,
a “quack buster”….
This
is rubbish, Mandi. Your action was
thoroughly repressive, and thus
have nothing to do with science,
and if successful would have
deprived a cash-starved WBAI and
Pacifica not only a great voice
for science, and you certainly
don’t understand it, but a
powerful source of revenue….
‘…This
is pure mendaciousness, like your
other lies here…’”
I
append to the bottom of this note
a copy of the Science for the
People List Guidelines. This
letter will be sent to all members
of the list to notify them of this
decision.
I
hope you will find this note in
the spirit intended—to fulfill the
Moderating Council’s
responsibility to safeguard the
mission of the list.
Best
wishes,
For
the Moderating Council,
Kamran
Nayeri
November
5, 2013
Moderating
Council members are Sam E.
Anderson, Eric Entemann, Herb Fox,
Kamran Nayeri, Claudia Pine,
Laurence Romsted and Mandi
Smallhorne.
Science
for the People list guidelines:
1. The list's
primary concern is to promote the
interests of the world of the
non-scientists (essentially the
world's population) by promoting
examples of science in the service
of the
people and exposing the
use of science in ways that are
destructive of the well-being of
the world's population.
2. No-one
who is interested in the substance
of the discussion will be
excluded.
3. No
subject that is relevant to the
list's primary concern will be
excluded. Purely political posts
that could and do take place in
other fora should not be
introduced. If they
are, the member will be warned
once by a moderator that if they
continue, they will be place on
moderation.
4. Any
and all members who indulge in ad
hominem attacks will be placed on
moderation for a period to be
determined by the Moderating
Council. Science for the People is
a forum for open and thoughtful
discussion. Should a member post
on a topic with which other
members disagree, no matter how
intensely, members are expected to
respond the content of the post,
not the person who sent it.
5. When
any member of the Moderating
Council contributes to the list
serve in that capacity, the post
will clearly identify that he or
she is speaking with the authority
of the Moderating Council.
6. The
Moderating Council will have the
authority to declare a subject
closed if it becomes clear that
opposing views have been
adequately aired and discussion is
going nowhere.
7. The
Moderating Council will confer
with each other (at least a quorum
of three) if a decision to place a
member on moderation, or any other
serious decision, is in play.
8. If
queries arise about the decisions
of the Moderating Council, members
should feel completely free to
discuss them.