It's not the poster, it's the behavior.
From Roy Weitz' FundAlarm discussion board: "Commercial, off-topic, repetitive, or offensive postings will be ruthlessly deleted." Pretty straightforward, no? But then he has full-time moderators who check the board multiple times each day.
I object to *****' continuing presence on the board because he:
1. Recycles old posts. If you're going to continue to post your "best of", then ask Dory for your own section of the board to do so. That way the rest of us can ignore it without thinking that we're reading something new.
2. He trolls, and I don't mean personality or appearance-- I mean behavior. From one of a number of places with this definition,
http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm#WIAT,
"An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people.
Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.
Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). You cannot negotiate with them; you cannot cause them to feel shame or compassion; you cannot reason with them. They cannot be made to feel remorse. For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules of courtesy or social responsibility.
Perhaps this sounds inconceivable. You may think, 'Surely there is something I can write that will change them.' But a true troll can not be changed by mere words."
3. He doesn't play fair. When awarded his own moderator position, he abused it. I don't care what your opinion is-- if you can't defend it by the same rules that guide the rest of us in our discourse, then you aren't entitled to express it.
4. He doesn't answer seemingly reasonable questions about his statements/ideas-- especially when the rest of us are capable of answering those same questions directed at our own posts/ideas.
Note that I'm not directing this post at *****. I've decided that from now on I'm doing what we should all be doing-- ignoring him. He's had his chances to change his behavior and to engage in productive interaction and he's wasted them. Further "reasoning" isn't worth the typing effort. Instead, I'm trying to reach those of you who haven't (yet) been subjected to the disillusionment & disgust experienced by myself & th (and perhaps others).
For those of you who object to banning on principle ("What if they turn on me next?!?"), I'd suggest reviewing th's experience with *****. No one is banned from a discussion board without having gone to extraordinary lengths to achieve & deserve it. There's only one person that really trips John Greaney's trigger, and there's a reason for that.
For guest posts, it doesn't take long to determine that ***** is the actual poster. He doesn't try very hard to disguise his behavior.
Reading a *****-free ER board is like a breath of fresh air after being trapped in a dark underground hole. Try
http://www.raddr-pages.com/forums/ .
In summary, it's not personal. I've asked for ***** to be banned because he's not here to post about this board's topics. He's here to be a troll (see #2 again). I'd ask the same of any poster who couldn't avoid these behaviors.
Dory, I'm sorry to see that you can't implement "Ignore". Thanks for looking into it. I don't know how M* does it but it's certainly a feature that Xnull should consider in their next YABB update. I'll give them some user feedback. IMO that is an effective long-term solution far better than the method suggested by Cut-Throat et al.
BTW, I read this board because it inspires my creativity and helps clarify my thinking. I learn a lot from the rest of you and I appreciate your sharing your ER experiences so that I can reap their benefits (without necessarily repeating them!). I enjoy posting here because I know that overinflated ideas will immediately have sharp pins poked in them to see how survivable they really are. I want to continue the exchange & critique of ideas or read about ER lifestyle issues. I don't want to engage in manipulative roundabouts instead of collaborative discussion.
Thanks all, I feel that I've been heard. I also feel pretty strongly that I'm correct in my evaluation of the situation and the action required to improve it, but I'm going to back off and let the problem make itself even more apparent so that you can all revisit it when it's developed (degraded?) further. Hopefully it won't turn this board into the tumbleweed-choked ghost town over at Greaneyville.
I'm done with this subject, but of course you'll send a PM if you have something to say.
. 
