A New Moderation Policy: Doug Dobney Is Banned on Sandwalk

Up until now I have been proud of the fact that nobody is banned on Sandwalk. I delete all spam that consist entirely of threats and incoherent ranting (e.g. Dennis Markuze). I also delete spam that advertises products and/or commercial websites. But even the weirdest kooks are allowed to post comments as long as they don't post spam.

But there's one thing I won't tolerate and that's when people start threatening other bloggers and commenters by contacting their families or their employers. That's where I draw the line.

Doug Dobney has posted hundreds of comments on Sandwalk under "anonymous." He is apparently opposed to evolution and won't listen to reason from those who have tried to set him straight on the facts. That's fine with me. If others want to have fun with him here, then it's up to them. I've been ignoring him and so has almost everyone else.

Recently another commenter revealed that "anonymous" was, in fact, Doug Dobney, a well-known kook from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. That made Doug very upset in spite of the fact that it was trivially easy to identify him based on his internet record where he has already admitted to his identity. (He also posts as "Socrates.")

That's fine too. What happened next is not fine. Doug Dobney sent letters to the Chair of my department and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine complaining about me. Here's a copy of his letter.

Dear Dr. Whiteside:

I need to bring to your attention a serious problem that relates to the Department of Biochemistry.

Please see the emails below.

Not only has the problem not been addressed, but I have not even been given a response to my emails documenting this dangerous situation.

To give you some insight into this problem, here are three, of many, instances from Dr. Moran’s blog:

“Josef Gladstone said...

I don't even understand why Doug Dobney would even want to toil in anonytimity when he is doing such groundbreaking work on organism development, especially in the new field of pterosaur to bird development. He is truly one of the great minds of the 21st century.

Doug Dobney will eventually be viewed in the same light as Darwin by the time the history of organism development is written.

And of course, to quote the great Mr. Dobney, this is certainly not worth arguing about! (both his wonderful wife Angela and myself get a great chuckle out of this whenever he says it, which is quite often!)

“AND

Ddobney@moffathouse.ca said...

Hey Doug Dobney, do guests at the Moffat House know you're insane?

AND if your stomach is up to it, there is this link on the blog:

http://socratesisdougdobney.blogspot.com/

I would appreciate your attention to this serious problem.

Yours sincerely,

Douglas Dobney

That's something I will not tolerate. Doug Dobney has earned the distinction of being the very first person to be banned on Sandwalk

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My Dean is a very busy person but I'm sure she enjoys a little chuckle now and then when these kook emails turn up in her mailbox. I'll have to ask her if she remembers Doug Dobney next time I see her in the line for coffee downstairs.