Hello readers and contributors of this blog,
No matter how often I try to remind people to be civil we still continue to have folks behaving badly here.
Some commenters, most of them with pseudonyms, are too intent to be nasty and make biting and personal remarks about each other. Others, most if them with pseudonyms, seem obsessed with smearing their least favorite politician, with post after post offering the same offensive message, even if the thread is on another topic entirely.
All of this negativity compromises the integrity of this blog. Despite my warnings, the nonsense continues.
I’ve decided, being a parent and having to discipline, a timeout might be the best option here.
From now on, if I have to tell someone more than once that they are not abiding by the Big Island Chronicle rules of civility, that person’s IP address will be blocked from this site.
The first offense will be a two-week block and the offender must write a public letter of apology before reinstatement.
The second offense will be a monthlong block and the offender must write a public letter of apology before reinstatement.
The third offense will be a six-month block and the offender must write a public letter of apology before reinstatement.
If that person continues on this path and comes back to posting offensive comments after a six-month block, he or she will be permanently blocked.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt
(808)938-8592
Newswoman@Mac.com
Www.bigislandchronicle.com
October 15th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Cool!
…atta girl Mom.
October 15th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Your too nice Tiff,
I don’t even give em one warning… I snuff most rude and anonymous comments before they even start up.
It’s really not worth the bother.
October 15th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Put your name to your post then I will respect what you say no matter how rude you get or what ever it is that you want to say. Hell I may even respond to you. But you anonymous kine people that live on this rock… go and crawl back under it and give the unafraid the field to play on.
Please forgive me it’s not all anonymous commentors that are rude and spitefull but it is becoming the norm to do so.
Tom Lackey aka The Lack
October 15th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Do all the “offenders” actually have static IP addresses? Might be true if those folks are posting from a business or government computer, but (so far as I know) people connecting from home don’t get the same IP address every time they connect to their ISP…
October 15th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
As a person who tries to plan ahead; I publicly and sincerely apologize for any future lack of good judgment on my part. Thank you.
October 16th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Anonymity is a legal right in this country and I hold the view that a sound argument from an anonymous source should be given as much weight as one from someone who identifies themself.
I say that as someone who was associated with a group of people, mostly anonymous, who were sued for libel. The case was thrown out almost immediately but because I wasn’t anonymous I ended up bearing most of the costs despite being on the winning side (and I hadn’t libeled anyone, but that’s by the by). It was a very expensive experience and I lost respect for many friends.
Despite that, I still support anonymous postings and hope that people won’t forget that there may be good reasons for posting anonymously. Whistle-blowing is certainly among them and the fear of retribution for stating an injustice cannot be ignored and shouldn’t be a reason for ignoring an argument simply because someone is unwilling or too afraid to provide their name.
Having said that, those wishing to remain anonymous need to understand that they have a responsibility. It is not to abuse the freedom they have been given. Unfortunately, some anonymous posters forget or ignore that and take things too far. I won’t be at all surprised if their abuse of the freedom they have been given will eventually end up with them losing it.
It’s already happened in Europe and will likely happen in the US as well.
So please, those of you agenda-driven pseudonyms please think about what you are doing and how you are damaging both your argument and credibility as well as those people who legitimately need to be anonymous.
That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Tom
October 16th, 2010 at 4:59 am
Want a check on you. Google your name and find out what you wrote. These blogs are world wide and are filtered by various agenecy’s. The Us gov has 2092 data bases operational now and has new Fusion Centers being built to filter ALL electronic media. The Utah center will be running soon. First amendment rights are being taken away in bits. Proposed laws are being written to allow lawsuits for another’s hurt feeling’s. What started of as a great tool is being turned into a great liability.
October 16th, 2010 at 5:22 am
Aloha Tiffany,
I just wanted to say, thank you, for allowing the reinstatement process to be less cumbersome than others. If I had to go before a committee and confess my sins and then sit around until they think I have manifest the right contrition or have been humiliated sufficiently before reinstatement and then live for months without privileges I would blow it off altogether.
FRP
October 16th, 2010 at 5:35 am
I for one will always be known as Ken.
Why I will always be known as Ken is because almost a decade ago I wrote a letter to the HTH about my opinion on abortion being a strictly personal matter between a woman and her doctor.
The next morning at exactly 5:00AM I was greeted by a large group of good practicing catholics who “crawled out” form under their rocks and with bullhorns and beating drums and chants calling me all the good loving terms good loving catholics can come up with.
“Not on my property” say the cops. Can’t do anything.
Was able to get restraining orders and eventually the catholics went back to church to practice their love and compassion.
So, after that experience of good christian love, I forever will be known as Ken on media outlets like this.
October 16th, 2010 at 11:48 am
I think there should be a digital “penalty box” or “naughty corner” where people have to go to wait to get their privileges back. You know, sort of like the stocks or pillories they had in the 17th Century.
October 16th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I personally don’t consider an apology to be worth much if it is coerced, or in the case of the BIC reinstatement policy, required. I would just rather that person be reinstated after the time-out period. If such a person did choose to write an apology, it would be valid and appreciated.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Hey Jerry,
I like it great idea. Maybe something like the DUNCE cap award. Tiff could issue a dunce cap to offending offenders.
Put this DUNCE cap on and go sit in the corner for two weeks. Hey, there may be a toon in all of this.
The Lack
October 17th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Hey Dwight Kondo,
Haven’t heard from you in awhile…have you been banned? Perhaps we could get together and form the NBA coalition (Naughty Blogger’s Anonymous) and lament about the good ol’ days when speech was truly free.
October 17th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Silverpenny,
Speech is still free.
You are free to invest all the time and work it takes to create and maintain a free blog on which you can freely say anything you want. Once a few people start violating your standards for civil conduct and discourse you will then be free to choose to ban them or to continue giving them a free platform. This is Tiffany’s blog, and she has every right to set standards and uphold them. We are all her guests here and she alone gets to decide what is unacceptable conduct here in her cyber living room.
October 17th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Thank you CS Gray!
I would like to add to your statement …. Speech on this blog is still free just so long as you remain civil.
So to those who can not or will not be civil – The “NBA” would be a great place! It’s not so much what you say, but how you say it!
Kim
October 17th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
When you are going to someone’s forum or blog, it is kind of visiting them at their home. Their home, their rules. If someone came to your house and acted uncivil, you’d probably throw him out. And you’d be within your rights. In these cases, someone always plays the First Amendment card. Here’s the First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
Congress doesn’t run this blog. Tiffany does.
October 19th, 2010 at 7:39 am
You can correct me it I’m wrong. It has been my belief that Congress created the second amendment for the purpose of not holding it’s people [citizens] indentured to the government. It was the other way around the government is indentured to the public. By giving the public the right to speak out against it’s government without repercussions the public is truly free.
However although we are blessed with this freedom of speech it dose not give the public the unencumbered right to say anything that they want without documentation backing it as fact. Hence the slander laws.
An example:
I have built and operate a working fuel alcohol [ethanol] still for the intention of proving to the state of Hawaii that it is more then feasible to bring back the sugar industry to make ethanol for the world market, and it works.
Now a anonymous person has been saying that I am making booze and selling it to school children. This no longer comes under the freedom of speech laws this is slander and WHEN I find this anonymous slander I will hold them personally libel. I have a permit from the government to produce up to 10,000 gallons of fuel alcohol a year.
The Lack
October 19th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Lack -
If you were making booze and selling it… I doubt you’d be drinking that store bought beer.
October 26th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Slander or Libel is very hard to prove in a Court of Law. Certain circumstances, sequence of events and documents must be present to warrant its rule. Beyond that, even if you bring suit on someone for Slander or Libel and win a judgement…you then must be able to show damages warrented to counter. I mean really folks..what it the point of a suite without the ability to recover damages? In this light, damages are manytimes also very difficult to prove.
So, short of stroking your own egos and feathering the pocket of a suesmith, there really isn’t much here. What you seem to forget here, my friends is, that there is a monster of an institution built upon the premisis of law and its adulterations there in that sits directly between the laws and rights of legislation of a country and its citizens/constituents. You lose sight of it all when faced with navigating a way through all of this.
Instead a legitimate gentleman or woman should first always remember to engage in debate with “Civil Discourse”. This is a term that we should all know the definition of. (If you don’t please go borrow a dictionary and find it). Thusly, using the proper terms and respect when engaging in debate os the given rule. -Just as you would if you were indeed sitting before a tenured Judge. (Please also note the placed use of the word DEBATE rather than ARGUEMENT here.) Resorting to name calling and accusational behaviors without justification rather based upon someones ideas or hunches is simply unacceptable. If your a master of your game, these sorts of little heated debates DO NOT get the best of you. If not….then the opposite will tender and you go home scornfully lick your wounds . Your motto should be: Law is like a horse carraige…it faces which ever way you turn it.” Become a master at manipulation of the debate. and certainly don’t throw rocks and name call when the better is had of you. Instead grab a book and educate yourself how to engage in the debate successfully.
REMEMBER…we as US citizens have the right under our Constitution to exercise free speech. Regardless of how seeminlgy ubiquitous and open for interpretation that amendment is becoming (naturally comes with social change) we do indeed still possess this beautiful priviledge. You also openly have the right to deliver verbal insult in this country should you choose to do so…..(Thank God Forced Civility is not yet a law here) but why on earth would you choose to do THAT when there are so many alternatives to choose from that are better and more productive?
As a general statement and from my own perspective as well, sources of this nature hold no merit in a legitimate debate and will quickly become dismissed as ego is clearly the only item positioned for delivery.
On that note -Best of luck to you all.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:32 am
In my honest opinion, slander is hard to prove because it is a “he said, she said” and it’s usually not recorded. It’s a pissing match.
Libel is NOT HARD to prove because it is in writing and for all the world to see. A private person being defamed does not have to prove reckless disregard for the truth that is required of a public figure, much less intentional libel.
Intentional libel is EVEN WORSE than reckless disregard of the truth. Whether you are a private or public figure, you don’t have to prove intentional libel. But, if it’s there, more power to the plaintiff/victum.
But than again the attorney fees to mitigate a case of libel could cost tens of thousands of dollars. The cost to defend a case of libel could begin with a $20k retainer alone with more legal costs guaranteed after attorney’s get done hitting the retainer. Defendant’s attorney love these kind of cases and enjoy the soap operas because of the fees and billable hours to be charged. Plaintiffs attorney might waive retainer if attorney sees strong case, deep pockets, or vulnerable defendant. Than plaintiffs attorney’s will work on contingency, with no retainer, and future collected damages or settlement to pay legal fees.
The lesson-check your facts before you talk or write and never rush to opinate or intentionally use false information to hold someone up to criticism or ridicule.
If you get caught doing that, you could lose everything.
But the best thing to do, it is what I would do, is calmly put yourself in the other persons shoes as victum or defendant, drop your ego, your power trip, and your desire to be DA MAN, and think what bringing a civil case will do in ruining another person and their families financial world.
And how it will affect their spouses and most of all children.
I would not want to take away any one’s rice bowl.
Sometimes pride has to be put aside and an apology extended.
November 25th, 2010 at 1:21 am
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