All things OEN

[waldopaper]

whack purges and the suppression of COTO...

[BO]

"I've been getting banned from liberal "free speech" websites for more than 25 years..."

Wow, that's quite a trick. Just funnin' ya, Mark.

[Mark]

It really is quite a trick, BO. You had to have been the first one banned from very first public free speech internet forum. Been posting to the RISKS list that long also.

The first site was owned by two famous wealthy liberal philanthropists. They were using it as a tax write-off, although they charged people through the nose for access, and also as the home of their exclusive child-molesting ring, something I was unaware of for over a year until one guy who didn't realize that I wasn't a member of the inner circle, offered me a ten-year-old boy. I can't prove it, but even though the site was sold years ago, they are aware that I know and have been encouraging and sometimes paying people to smear my name ever since.

They were strict anti-censorship puritans and their motto was "you own your own words." When they banned me without warning, they also deleted everything I had ever written without giving me a chance to download anything, and claimed they had no back-ups. So almost two years worth of my writing, often about 10,000 words a day, at least according to one of their published claims about how prolific a writer I was, is missing from the collection of my personal papers at one of the Harvard libraries.

Like I recently told someone in a private email, in response to them saying, in a backhanded way, that I'm a genius, I'm no genius--I learn things the same way everyone else does, by making every possible mistake until nothing is left but to stumble on the solution. I'm just older than many people, so I've made more mistakes.

And I've made the same mistakes several times. That was the first but not the only site to have banned me and deleted everything I'd written. Just being banned from liberal free speech websites, without having them delete everything I ever wrote, is a great improvement. The first Reality Based Community banned me and deleted everything I'd ever written.

Just as freedom of the press belongs to those who own the presses, online freedom of speech belongs to those who own the online websites. In a fascist country like ours, freedom itself is an illusion, one the gatekeepers like to sloganize but never actually allow. None of the gatekeeper websites allowed any mention of election fraud until after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s article on election fraud was published in Rolling Stone magazine, which I think was in 2006 or thereabouts. dKos still won't allow any mention of 9/11 Truth. OEN and DemocraticUnderground do not allow any criticism of Democratic candidates or elected officials. Usually, the sole commitment of gatekeeper sites to free speech is that they allow right-wing trolls. By allowing both the right and the far right, they claim they are open to all viewpoints, but they don't allow anything from the left.

[curt]

Just for the record, bannings are nothing new on OEN. COTO was, as far as I know, the first collective banning. The bannings have always come in waves and guilt by association has always been applied. When Rob banned Mark, he warned me. I held up the guilt by association card and Rob just said "tough luck". I played it straight for the longest time, not giving him reason to ban me and I knew he was out to ban me as he followed my comments like stink on shit. Okay, some of my comments were shitty. LOL. But then he set out, it was obvious, to ban a few others for whatever it was. COTO hadn't yet formed. The phrase had either not been coined or not been used on OEN at that time. But then Rob banned a few and I saw it coming. He had already announced a crackdown (see the link Kevin provided). I had warned a few by PM. And then, one day in November 2008, right after I posted a few hard hitting diaries and comments for which I knew I would be banned, Rob came out for the first time in months and asked for our money, again, in diary form. I quickly replied to his beggar's diary with "if it's our money you want, you can have it, we'll gladly support you but first you must stop stifling dissent!" Or so. He immediately deleted that comment and I hadn't kept a copy, which I often did...as many of my comments were deleted without explanation, day in and day out. Anyway, I guess I hit Rob in his priceless family jewels ; banned for sabotaging "our" fundraising activities....or so, he said. Rob actually gave me, per e-mail the option of being suspended or banned permanently. I wrote back and said, or so, "well, Rob, let's get it over with. I'm not even angry with you as I know you're only doing your job. Not sure who your Bosses are but you're doing a great job. Ban my ass now. Forever. Thanks. Curt" not word for word again as I don't have a copy. Or maybe I do. Probably do but in which account? LOL I saw the crackdown on dissent coming as it became evident the Dems were to win this time. Hell, we didn't even have to vote and the Dems would've won. Mark & I had that one figured out while the D-debates still allowed Ron Paul on the stage.

[curt]

P.S. take it literally if you wish. I'm no different than Mr. M when it comes to getting to the point, fast and hard. A Spade is a Spade. Michael had the balls to say it. I don't.

[curt]

double P.S.

[waldopaper]

It's come a long way since the "Kewl Kids Klub," remember that? Now it has evolved into this:
http://cotocrew.wordpress.com/ I betcha the "guilt by association" rubbed off on me!

I think Mr. M came up with the COTO meme... I surely like it. Maybe in my case, I hit their Semitic hot-button with, oy- the irony! Here's an example:

Years ago, a local restaurant downtown became a popular hangout for the hairy folk... so they decided to kick out hippies... complete with the "we reserve the right to refuse service" sign in front... and of course my girlfriend and I went in anyway... and here comes a big black cop- who told us we had to leave.

"Can you see the irony in this," I asked. "YOU are kicking ME out because of the way I look."

"I don't know bout no 'irony'," he said, "but can YOU see you about to get arrested?" Of course we left.

That's a killer graphic, Curt. I'm gonna snatch it and post it on cotocrew... unless YOU do it first!

[curt]

I aint gonna join the crew, Pisano. Not my party. Not quite. Almost, but not quite. I luvzem ta pieces an all but their affections for AJ turn me off. I luvz AJ too but I aint so sure he aint da pied piper.

[waldopaper]

"AJ?" whoo be AJ? me brain is leakin and i should be outside bushoogin while i gots in-laws' tractor. Just fascinated with this little sideshow... for the time being... somebody put up this "teachable moment" link: http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/21576 ...bein sorta half-assed in-the-biz meself, i aint so sure... but whatever gets people to re-think what they think "socialism" is... ok by me.

What... Al Jolsen? rrrg. Keep thinkin about your proposal that McSame shoulda "won" to speed the inevitable. Maybe. But I am getting "mileage" outta the bammabots. NOW they can't say meh- you just hate bxsh... or mooo... you jus hates McLame cuz he a pubblecon. Nope... NOW I can say... look... I "voted" for Bammoid... and HE'S a fucktard TOO.

Course I gotta xplain that I think "voting" is just cheep entertainment... we didn't have much choice in krakkkerland... no McKinney or Nader on the ticket... and if "voting" made any difference, it would be illegal.

So does that mean it's ok to filch yer graphic?

[Mark]

Thanks for the link, Waldo. I wanted to post a comment at Z-Net, but you have to register. So I registered and it said you have to pay $12 a year to post comments.

I'm thinking about it. Anybody know what their gatekeeper limits are, how often they purge, how much censorship there is of comments, etc.?

[curt]

it aint "my graphic" caus eI pinched it from some anti-OEN site last year. Dunno where that was but it aint mine so yuze can uze it anywhere, mister.

AJ = da pied piper. Alex Forkin Jones.

[Mark]

It's a great graphic. I wonder how many anti-OEN websites there are. Probably at least one for every major purge they've had, which would be quite a few, and a few more for some of the really great writers they've banned who had contributed many original articles, had a bit of a following there, and didn't know where else to post so started their own forums. It may be an entire genre by now.

[pan]

Lot's o deja vu here. Curt's story of getting banned from OEN is damn similar to how I got bounced from Smirking Chimp. First I got the attention of the Board Nanny who claimed that the word Zionist was code for antisemitic, then Tiedrich started following me pretty closely when I started hanging out with the Kewl Kids. His interest intensified when I posted snide remarks about his fund-raising (suggesting that, if he wanted donations he should become a 501(c)3 not for profit and be answerable to a Board of Directors). He made some threats and told me I should ask Waldo what happened to the 9/11 posts (I was posting on the original RBC at the time)

I got bounced soon after he started the new S.C. He deleted a Israel/Palestine blog because it was the "same people posting the same boring stuff". I wrote to ask why and was banned. He replied with expletives and comments about spitwads being thrown at the back of his head.

I am very happy that I didn't get involved with OEN. And am quite content with RBC staying small and rather unnoticed.

People often ask me if I have any words of advice for young people. Well, here are a few simple admonitions for young and old.

Never interfere in a boy and girl fight.

Beware of whores who say they don't want money. The hell they don't. What they mean is they want more money. Much more.

If you're doing business with a religious son of a bitch, get it in writing. His word isn't worth shit, not with the good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.

Avoid fuckups. You all know the type. Anything they have anything to do with, no matter how good it sounds, turns into a disaster.

Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill. Tell them firmly, "I am not paid to listen to this drivel. You are a terminal fool."

Now some of you may encounter the devil's bargain if you get that far. Any old soul is worth saving at least to a priest, but not every soul is worth buying. So you can take the offer as a compliment. They charge the easy ones first, you know, like money, all the money there is. But who wants to be the richest guy in some cemetery? Not much to spend it on, eh, Gramps? Getting too old to cut the mustard. Have you forgotten something, Gramps? In order to feel something, you have to be there. You have to be 18. You're not 18, you are 78. Old fool sold his soul for a strap-on.

How about an honorable bargain? "You always wanted to become a doctor. Now's your chance. Why, you could have become a great healer and benefit humanity. What's wrong with that?" Just about everything. There are no honorable bargains involving exchange of qualitative merchandise like souls. Just quantitative merchandise like time and money. So piss off, Satan, and don't take me for dumber than I look. As an old junk pusher told me, "Watch whose money you pick up."

-- William S. Burroughs