[Taxacom] Reality check - lies and hate by academic fraud Wolfgang Wuster on Wikipedia!

[Richard Jensen]

I agree with Alan.  The list moderator has responsibility and authority to
delete off-topic/inappropriate postings and  Alan's points are on target.

Further, in today's litigious environment, a list moderator who allowed
such postings to be distributed could become the target of a lawsuit for
disseminating libelous statements.
.
Dick J


On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 12:10 PM, Weakley, Alan <weakley at bio.unc.edu> wrote:

> Jim has not proposed banning anyone (other than as a last resort) --
> "moderating" is a moderate and appropriate response to what I and many
> others (I am sure) consider a misuse of the list.
>
> Some of Ray Hoser's posts have raised interesting points about the ICZN
> (and by extension the ICN), "regulation" of nomenclature, and even
> "taxonomic rivalries"; I'll happily read (or at least glance at) anyone's
> (including his) posts that are ON TOPIC for this listserv.  Simple use of
> the delete button is appropriate for a string of only peripheral interest
> that goes on beyond one's interest level.   That is not what has been going
> on here, though.  There is a limit to what a listserv should and can
> tolerate and remain a useful vehicle for discussion of professional topics.
>  Australian legal cases involving the display of de-venomized snakes are
> not on topic, nor whether someone's daughters were allegedly treated
> inappropriately by police.  Hoser may or may not have been ill-used by
> "Wuster's gang" but the only relevant topics for this listserv relate to
> actual issues about taxonomy and nomenclature.  Discussions of the merits
> and demerits of proposals related to the ICZN are ON TOPIC, and Hoser,
> Wuster, and any other member should be welcome to weigh in on those,
> without ad hominem attacks.
>
> If members were repeatedly posting sales notices for their saleboat, or
> porn links, or non-taxonomically-related tirades against Tea Party
> Republicans, Ed Milliband, the UN, or the pope -- would anyone say "just
> use the delete button"?  Keeping the listserv minimally and broadly "on
> topic" is necessary and appropriate; it is not censorship.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:
> taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Dan Lahr
> Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 10:36 AM
> To: John Grehan
> Cc: TaxaCom
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Reality check - lies and hate by academic fraud
> Wolfgang Wuster on Wikipedia!
>
> +1 to John.
>
> Ignoring is superior to banning, IMHO. Not replying or not giving any
> attention to spammers, flammers, is also a very effective way to get them
> to quiet down. People need to learn to use filters, sorters, and all of the
> wonderful tools sitting right there inside your browser/email viewer.
>
> BUT, the owners of the list have decided, hence we should just abide.
>
> cheerio,
> __________________________________
> Daniel J. G. Lahr
> PhD, Assist. Prof.
> Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Sao Paulo, Brazil Office number: + 55 (11) 3091
> 0948
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 11:26 AM, John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Raymond's main transgression seems to me) to be that he continues to
> > use this venue to disparage various colleagues in a repetitive and
> > uninformative manner. I always worry about calls to ban something
> > (after all the prestigious journal Systematic Biology has allowed
> > publications effectively calling for the banning of panbiogeography).
> > Rather than banning, why not use the delete button or a sorting
> > function? At various times subscribers on this list have got tired of
> > a particular topic and want the thread to end while others want to
> > continue. Any list is not going to make everyone happy all of the
> > time. There are often topics discussed at great length on this list
> > that do not interest me. But I do not complain about that as they are
> > of interest to others. So I just delete - only takes a few seconds.
> > There are list members who use this for some of my postings and that
> > is quite ok with me. Better than banning postings or burning books.
> >
> > John Grehan
> >
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-- 
Richard Jensen, Professor
Department of Biology
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556