Thursday, August 14, 2008

AL.COM/FORUMS' CHIEF EDITOR, KEN BOOTH

I don't know if you have ever been a poster on al.com forums, but I personally have. I have had to contact Ken Booth, chief editor, on several occasions, to get him to stop being biased in his banning of either me, or several of my friends. I was a welcome poster on there for a couple of years, making over 4,000 postings, and never being banned permanently, during that time. HOWEVER, about a year and a half ago, when the political TROLLS from Prattville started in on me, and being the opinionated and positive woman that I am, I would either ignore their childish banter, or finally get fed up, and strike back. My family was slandered and harassed by these hecklers, and Ken Booth was made aware of this repeatedly. Finally I was banned permanently, because Booth did not want to address the real situation. (either that, or he had a personal agenda, politically, or personally). HE STILL DOES!....He allows these trolls to "pat"rol the forums over and over, and bans MANY individuals who are not even making waves, but rather telling the truth about what is really going on in the world around us. I have watched several of my friends get banned. It is a waste of precious time to try to make intelligent postings on a political forum, and constantly get banned, for no reason. FORGET FOLLOWING THE RULES OF THE FORUMS...They are not being followed by any of the trolls. WHY would a large major newspaper chain, which includes THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS, THE MOBILE REGISTER, & THE HUNSTVILLE TIMES, allow a goon like Ken Booth to remain as Editor in Chief of their forums, when it is very clear that he doesn't allow FREEDOM OF SPEECH, which is a CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution???? I even took the steps of filing a BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU complaint on al.com for their discriminatory actions, or inactions, and FINALLY, the main user names of the PRATTVILLE TROLLS, were banned permanently. (Pctrail1, Tagman, Atltobhm, and Whatabeach). However, they are still allowed to remain in control of the forums, under their new user names Ptrail2, Nanny2shoes, Diablol (Deb is a Bitch, laughing out loud), Winsomeone, Kingbud, LockNLoad, Bumprstickr1, etc. If you see these individuals on the forums, steer clear of them. THEY MEAN HARM to most that they come into contact with. They travel the forums (different cities) searching to harass. I have seen many people banned, because the trolls thought they were me. ISN'T THAT RIDICULOUS???? My advice to these trolls, is GET A LIFE! (Oh wait a minute, maybe they are being paid by some public officials? One of them is a Democrat representative of the State Democratic Party of Alabama). FANCY THAT!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deb, why bother with those sites? As you say, they are invested with trolls.

Don said...

Spending time on any of the al.com forums is a waste of time and talent. Any time a serious person spends on ALMOST ALL forums could be better spent doing more constructive and positive things that might make a difference.

Anonymous said...

Hey, you know that for the most part, those forums are actually policed from al.com's corporate headquarters in New Jersey. So yeah, I don't think they give a flip about Prattville up there.

Anonymous said...

Yes, their patrolling is done in New Jersey, not in Alabama. And like most people, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment. The Constitution keeps THE GOVERNMENT from controlling your speech, but a private entity can do as it pleases with comments you post on its web sites, just as you can do whatever you wish with comments posted by others on this blog, including mine. I get so blinkin' tired of people that holler "First Amendment! First Amendment! Unconstitutional!" when some web site removes their posted messages, or a newspaper won't print their letter to the editor.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

No, the patrolling is done from Birgmingham, through Cindy and through Ken Booth. He told me personally, that he would check them, and that they come to HIM..he does have a Birmingham phone number. Maybe I should post that?? I know htat al.com is owned by a New Jersey company, but they do monitor from Alabama as well. Thank you all for your posts. And to the last ANONYMOUS poster...al.com is a public forum, not a private website.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

oops, I mis-spelled "THAT" ...sorry about THAT lol..

Anonymous said...

"And to the last ANONYMOUS poster...al.com is a public forum, not a private website"

It's a public forum but privately owned. It is not run by a government entity.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

thanks, Jay, and Don for your comments! It was great for you to take time out of your busy schedules to visit and post. I do appreciate good people like you:) Thanks also to the anonymous posters, because it took lots of guts for you to pop in and chance your anonymity LOL. Been quite a day here in politics!!

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

LET ME MAKE ONE MORE POINT HERE. The main point of this post about Ken Booth, is that he has been BIASED in his banning. Banning because of community rules, that Al.com forums construct and post, IS OK. THAT is their perogative. HOWEVER, When they choose to ban one, and repeatedly allow others to continue to come to their site, and CONTINUALLY harass and slander me and my family, that is wrong, and ILLEGAL. Our courts have rules for slander/libel, and there is a difference in saying "Deb is stupid", than in saying "Call me this afternoon, and I will offer Democrat minutes, that are viewable to the public, but not to Deb, concerning a Democrat meeting about Deb and her husband, wherein Deb's husband attacked some old people". THIS SIMPLY DID NOT HAPPEN, and it was spread all over the forums OVER AND OVER AGAIN. My husband has been accused of being a 2 time felon, w hich is not true. That is slanderous and libelous. However, that was allowed to be repeatedly broadcast through MANY postings by these trolls, all over al.com forums. No, there comes a time when you just won't take anymore, and you fight back. I don't take Jack **** from anyone!

Jay, you mentioned why bother with al.com forums? I frequent them to make sure that my name is not being slung around. Anyone who frequents the Prattville forum/ the Montgomery forum/ the Mobile forum/ the Ala. Politics forum/ the Pelham forum/ the Birmingham Forum, etc., knows that these trolls have been allowed to follow and harass me. BAVOICE1 and 2 from the Pelham forum, was banned, because the TROLL GANG FROM PRATTVILLE thought that user name was ME. Bluebird (a new user), has been banned, because the "Prattville gang" thought they were me. It's just gotten out of hand, and I won't take it any longer. Bringing it on here visually for others to see, might stop the harassment and slander. I pray that it doesn't happen to any of you. After 2 years of it, it's time to stop. ADVANCE PUBLICATIONS, I hope that you are reading this, and realize how important it is to stop the discrimination on your forums. Whether you be stationed in New York, New Jersey, or Birmingham, please pay attention, and stop the nonsense that Ken Booth is allowing. I do have many emails that have transpired between Ken Booth and myself about this issue. The easiest thing that should have been done, would have been to ban EVERYONE. That hasn't happened, and I won't stop broadcasting this, until it DOES.

Don said...

I confess that I scan a half-dozen al.com forums every morning for probably less than 5 minutes to see if anyone has posted anything of interest or value, so I’ll amend my comment above. What I mean is that trying to use those forums (even if your comments aren’t deleted) is a waste of time because most of the people that are on the forums aren’t willing to learn. They have their opinions and aren’t willing to change their minds. They had rather just argue and try to insult people.

Unknown said...

Deb,
I think I have to agree with Don. For over 2 months I have wasted my time trying to contribute to the political discussion on al.com. At the end of the day when all you have said just vanishes it is time to quit. They will have their way BECAUSE THEY CAN. It is a horrible feeling when you experience being censored. It has been a enlightening experience.