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No surprise, that my enquiry about recent Navlist happenings has raised
several further questions.

1. I will start by turning, with some distaste, to the following paragraph
from Frank Reed-

"I note that neither you nor Denny emailed me off-list to inquire. Why
would that be, George?? Douglas Denny did not ask to have his posting
privileges restored (though they have been already for over a week). I'm
surprised by that if he's really so interested in posting something. From
you, however, it's not really that much of a surprise. You're well-known
for taking pleasure in dirty laundry."

Those are disgraceful words to come from the "moderator" of a mailing list,
in response to valid, legitimate, and respectably-worded questions, from a
list member, about a matter which may well be of interest to several other
members. That's the sort of unpleasant language that a moderator worth his
salt would immediately stamp upon: not utter himself. It is, however,
typical of the sort of personal smear we have come to expect from Frank
Reed. I request that those words be withdrawn, though I don't expect it to
happen.

Why should Frank Reed resent such questions being asked? What
"dirty-laundry" does he have to hide?

2. I have asked what actual offence Douglas Denny had committed, and the
reply was-
"After his last outburst, in which he attacked various people, Douglas
Denny told me that he would ignore any rules about posting, and declared
that he didn't care to be part of this group anyway (and let's be clear --
this was the third time that Douglas Denny announced that he was 'not
interested in being a member of a club that would have somebody like him as
a member' --paraphrasing a famous comedian)."

So I ask again- for what actual breach of Navlist rules was the discipline
incurred? A stated intention to ignore rules is not, at that stage, a
breach. Or was he simply penalised for cheeking the head-prefect? Let's be
clear, about what happened.

3. Frank next wrote-
"I then emailed him and told him that his posting privileges were suspended
for seven days. NOTE: these were ONLY his posting privileges from the
NavList message boards. His email access was never affected. He is fibbing
if he has said that he received no notice of this."

Frank tells us he sent that email, but provides no details. Douglas has
said that he received no such communication, and has since confirmed that
to me. In the present state of email communication, beset as it is by spam
filters, I would first consider whether that email had somehow got lost in
the ether, along the way. But no, Frank immediately accuses him of
"fibbing"., of telling a deliberate untruth. As it has now become the basis
of such an unpleasant accusation, we need to discover more, from Frank, who
appears to be the only one with any knowledge of that email. When, exactly,
was it sent: who, exactly, was it addressed to: what, exactly, were its
contents?

4.  Next-
"After receiving those two rants and realizing that Denny had not calmed
down at all, I decided he needed another week off. After that, his posting
privileges were restored."

So it seems that after claiming to have warned Douglas of a one-week
suspension, Frank arbitrarily then decided to double the sentence. Did he
then send a further notice of that increase, or leave him in the dark? When
his posting privileges were later restored, was he informed about that?

4. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Douglas had posted on the subject
"Graphs of lunar distances" on 26 October, and Frank issued a dismissive
response to it, 2 days later. However, by that stage, it seems that Frank
had barred Douglas from further posting, so Frank then know, though nobody
else did, that there could be no response from Douglas to the "last word"
on the subject, that Frank had just awarded himself. Frank chose not to
tell us that. To me, that's underhand behaviour, smacking of abuse of
power, and I wonder whether Frank is proud of those actions.

5. This takes us back to the rather curious circumstances of the capture,
by Frank and Navlist, of the then-existing mailing-list Nav-L, some years
ago now. I, along with other Nav-L members, expressed concern about Frank's
suitability in the role of moderator, as he was likely to be in the thick
of any argument. He allayed that concern, to some extent, by stating that
all such decisions would be made jointly between him and Dan Allen, a
listmember held in some respect, whose own contributions have recently
become infrequent. So I ask whether, before any decision about suspending
Douglas Denny was made, Dan was consulted and gave his agreement.

===============

Let me make it clear that it's not Douglas Denny that I am arguing for
here. He somewhat intemperate choice of language has brought on him much of
his own difficulties, and makes him a rather unlikely martyr. I am arguing
for better, and less capricious, governance of Navlist, in the expectation
that the next victim of such treatment may well be me.

George.

contact George Huxtable, at george{at}hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Reed" 
To: 
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 4:39 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: Navlist happening


Hello George.

After his last outburst, in which he attacked various people, Douglas Denny
told me that he would ignore any rules about posting, and declared that he
didn't care to be part of this group anyway (and let's be clear -- this was
the third time that Douglas Denny announced that he was 'not interested in
being a member of a club that would have somebody like him as a
member' --paraphrasing a famous comedian). I then emailed him and told him
that his posting privileges were suspended for seven days. NOTE: these were
ONLY his posting privileges from the NavList message boards. His email
access was never affected. He is fibbing if he has said that he received no
notice of this. This was not a "spanking", just a time-out. He then sent
two more long-winded, incompetent rants, attacking me personally, and also
ignoring everything that has been written to him about the navigation
issues at hand, and demanded that they be posted to NavList, despite being
told that he had a seven-day vacation. If I failed to post them, this would
qualify as "censorship" or so he said (last December, another NavList
member, whom I won't name publicly, asserted that I was comparable to the
People's Republic of China since I had "censored" his NavList
messages --that case was actually an issue involving Google Groups and part
of the reason I moved us off of that service). After receiving those two
rants and realizing that Denny had not calmed down at all, I decided he
needed another week off. After that, his posting privileges were restored.
UNDERSTOOD? He can post right now. His posts will, however, be moderated
for some brief period of time.

I note that neither you nor Denny emailed me off-list to inquire. Why would
that be, George?? Douglas Denny did not ask to have his posting privileges
restored (though they have been already for over a week). I'm surprised by
that if he's really so interested in posting something. From you, however,
it's not really that much of a surprise. You're well-known for taking
pleasure in dirty laundry.

NOW, why didn't I "inform NavList" of this seven-day vacation for Mr.
Denny? First, because it was quite temporary. Many people on NavList go a
week or two without posting including me, and you, yourself, George.
Second, and more importantly, because it's not public business. It's most
unfortunate that you have chosen to make it public rather than just asking
me off-list.

By the way, this is only the second person on NavList, in the four years
that I've been managing it, whose posting privileges have EVER been
suspended for any period of time (So Douglas, that's a feather you can
stick in your cap). As I have explained many times, banning or suspending
people is almost completely ineffective since only email addresses can be
blocked, not people. The other person was suspended a bit more permanently
and this ALSO without informing NavList members generally. So, George
Huxtable, see if you can guess who that other person was... someone near
and dear to your heart... Do not post your guess to NavList, but you're
welcome to email me OFF-LIST if you wish to thank me. Just a reminder, my
preferred email: FrankReed[at]HistoricalAtlas.com.

-FER


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