I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

New Troll Policy

I have wasted far too much time with trolls lately. Maybe it's a sign of this blog's growth that I now have at least one full-time, dedicated troll stalking me here and at Blue Jersey who is quite conversant in reformy vocabulary.

I don't have a problem with tough arguments against me. I will admit, for example, that a troll did catch me once saying something dumb. Good for her or him. Good for me, too, because I need to keep on my toes.

So I've been very tolerant... but enough is enough. Here are the rules:

1) Racist, homophobic, anti-Semetic, misogynistic, etc. language will not be tolerated here.

2) If you say or imply that I am a racist, homophobe, anti-Semite, sexist, etc., you're gone.

3) Make your point and move on. If it's a dumb point, I'll keep it up, but I won't allow you to make it over and over again.

4) Do not twist my words. If you post, "Jazzman, you said this!" and I didn't say it, it's coming down. I don't have time to argue with you when you are willingly misreading me. I write in plain English; if you can't understand what I'm saying, that's your fault, not mine.

5) It's my blog, and I retain the right to ban you whenever I feel you have habitually broken the rules above. If you don't like these policies, get your own blog.

I have no obligation to provide anyone with a forum to be a troll.


OK, what's next? Oh, yes...

ADDING: Comments now require OpenID or a Google account. Didn't really know much about OpenID before, but it seems like a good system. If Facebook pages and nj.com require registration, it seems I should as well.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really concerned... and SO CUTE! Glad you set the rules AND posted that pic!

Anonymous said...

Bravo, you were very tolerant of the troll until he went way over the line of decency.

Anonymous said...

I think you need to clarify what you meant when you, Duke, posted re: Jewish schools on 4/16 at 5:33 pm:

Jazz: "If you choose to send your daughter to a school that teachers her that she cannot go to college, that is your choice."

What school is that? Simple question.

Making statements like that, and then silencing questions, has a historical record on this topic. Oh and it includes cartoons and mockery and mobs yelling attaboy.

Anonymous said...

Troll, there is no pride to be felt in waiting, stalking, salivating for some moment that you think can be manufactured into a "gotcha." You're right, there is historical record on this topic - the countless posts here by Jazzman which demonstrate without a sliver of a shadow of a hint of doubt that his ideas are not only anti-discriminatory, but aggressively oppose those who discriminate. This is the ultimate failure of your repeated and transparent attempts to discredit this blogger - everything of which you have accused him is plainly not there as per the record of this blog. Perhaps that's why you are a solitary voice here saying these things - they're exclusive to your own personal (very personal) brand of delusion.

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for an answer to the above flat out statement from Jersey Jazzman. The OSA, it should be pointed out, allows any transferring student to opt out of any and all religious classes at any school they choose, and the receiving schools are ineligible if they do not agree to this in advance, and it may not influence the selection of children coming in.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has an Orthodox Jewish female clerk, might have a different take than you on this. I think the record should be clear both on Jewish schools and the OSA vis-a-vis religion.

Jazzman had the integrity to correct himself once before (see above), it will be interesting to see his behavior now.

Troll Police said...

I think there are many trolls here!

Duke said...

The thread in question is staying up. Readers may view it and judge for themselves if I was out of line in answering a hypothetical question with a hypothetical answer, based on the articles cited.

See #3 above. We are moving on.

Tamar Wyschogrod said...

I'm sorry to be feeding the troll, but I really feel the need to clarify one point regarding the whole yeshiva issue. Unfortunately, many people do not know the difference between Orthodox and Haredi (also sometimes referred to as ultra-Orthodox). The The Lakewood Jewish community is Haredi, as are the schools under discussion in relation to OSA. Haredim endorse extreme gender segregation and the restriction of women to the domestic sphere. They also endorse the voluntary self-segregation of Jews from society at large. Lakewood Yeshivas are fully involved in this lifestyle; there is no "opting out" of anything. Religion in these schools is integrated into every aspect of education. These schools are very different from those of the mainstream Orthodox.

It is not even remotely anti-semitic to take issue with the use of public monies to fund Lakewood yeshivas. I'm certain most who support vouchers for the typical Catholic or Modern Orthodox Jewish school would oppose using them for Haredi schools if they knew the facts.