# Aldebaran/New Iskander. The double standards of the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 13, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596 "2005-01-13T20:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xamatix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e274bd/32.png) [@Xamatix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xamatix)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/1 "2005-01-13T20:32:21Z")
Threads like this are what this message board needs. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5715502#post5715502](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5715502#post5715502) They add to the shame of the SDMB exposed with this thread: > **[Aldebaran has been banned](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294554)** > > Aldebaran has been banned for trolling, posting information he knew or should have known was false, making veiled and not-so-veiled threats, and refusing to cooperate with the mods. He has received numerous warnings, most recently in this thread.... Posters like New Iskander have a free podium for racism and hate. Aldebaran got warned when he dared to say something on American soldiers. The far sougth reasons in the ATMB thread can’t hide this truth. He is banned for fighting and exposing the double standards on the SDMB. The thread on the ATMB was closed quickly to put an end to the support he received. A warning added in the closing post. Threads about this banning are not wanted. In all the years I come here I never saw such a censorship. It’s almost as if the SDMB is afraid to have a Middle Eastern poster expressing his views. Education got banned from a website that claims to be _intellectual_ and _fighting ignorance_. Only because he didn’t bring the Western take. The truth hurts. It wasn’t served with gloves and silk to soften its impact. How bad. Face it: Hypocrisy, cruelty, double standards and jingoism is what made him go overboard. You all and myself included would have lost it long before if standing in his shoes. Today I saw the thread of New Iskander. Nobody dares to mention the double standards Aldebaran exposed. What are you all so afraid of? In case you wonder why after many years of lurking I make a thread to post this: I know Aldebaran since he was a kid. I gave him a link to the SDMB. I told him this board had many posters with an open mind able to understand his side. How much I regret this. I didn’t know about the double standards shared by some of the administration and members. Mehitabel is an other good example of the SDMB siding with an American poster against someone they saw as the enemy. She wasn’t even warned while she deserved a banning long ago for what she did. How often I felt like telling her what I thought. Aldebaran didn’t want people to have a link between him and an other member. Reading her posts made **me** feel sick and I wasn’t even the object of her obsession. I should have done something about it. The administration would do the board and every member a service by reconsidering its decision about Aldebaran’s banning. He asked EdZotti to think about it after what ever time period they see as right. For me it’s the only thing the SDMB can do to remove the stain of double standards and censorship it wears right now. The banner so proudly heading this website has degenerated into a joke lacking a point. It’s not funny. It hurts loyal readers like I used to be. I know many others who think like I do. The SDMB is no hair better then the rest of US based websites. We feel betrayed in our expectations. I’m a woman of 55 who has seen it all. I lived in the Middle East. I lived in many places elsewhere. I was never met with as much jingoism and haughtiness as you see right now in the USA. It’s frightening. Much more frightening then the hatred of terrorists like OBL. The USA can turn the world into a mushroom cloud in a few hours time. The permanent banning over here of a member like Aldebaran instead of seeking a diplomatic solution through dialogue doesn’t give me much hope. It’s like watching the Bush doctrine projected on a mini scale by a US message board. I’m not a poster. I only paid up to keep the search function. If things don’t change it isn’t even worth the few lousy dollars to renew my membership coming April. I’ll add it to my donation for the tsunami victims. Fighting ignorance and encouraging tolerance is far better served with that Mods, you ban me for this post if you want. Censor me. Hell, I’ll give you a hand if you like. Occasionally my IP’s get incorporated in Aldebaran’s proxies. Maybe one was in use when he posted here. I don’t know. I don’t think he knows. But there you go. You weren’t informed about this. Exit Xamatix. Deletion of my thread and my few posts. Mission Censorship completed. (Hey Mehitabel, that’s in Belgium. That’s right! You could have a winner!) Greetings. PS: Aldebaran’s last mail is on LiveJournal for members to comment or criticize his conclusion. Look under alpha\_taura to find him. If the administration of this website has a problem with this they can mail him about it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/2 "2005-01-13T20:43:54Z")
**Xamatix** , a couple of points: If you will note, **New Iskander** is being pretty thoroughly scorned on his thread (as he is on ost of the silly threads he posts). That is not exactly an indication that the Teeming Millions accept and rejoice in his hatred. **Aldebaran** was not banned for a simple expression of opposition to the U.S. He was banned after being warned for a number of different issues over the period of many months. You might want to step back and see whether your friendship with **Alde** is coloring your perception of the events, here. ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/3 "2005-01-13T20:57:17Z")
You have my full support. Aldebaran was wrongfully banned. I have been more of a lurker. I was intially very impressed by SDMB, and it continued to gain my favour and adulation. The banning of Aldebaran and the murky double standards exhibited by the admins and mods in doing that has definitely made a significant dent in what I thought SDMB to be. It was of course encouraging to note that a lot of members were not in support of banning Aldebaran, but the voice was not strong enough and so the SDMB has succeeded in stigmatizing itself with the label of a forum that practices double standards. Maybe I too will be banned for questioning the two faced double-dealing actions of the controllers of this board. I haven’e been much of a poster anyways. I have gained more by browsing and enjoyed it too. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/4 "2005-01-13T20:58:16Z")
> [@Xamatix](#): > > Posters like New Iskander have a free podium for racism and hate. Aldebaran got warned when he dared to say something on American soldiers. First off that wasn’t what he was banned for. Second off he said he wanted to shoot American soldiers. If New Iskander had said he wanted to shoot the Arabs he would have gotten warned also. > [@Xamatix](#): > > The far sougth reasons in the ATMB thread can’t hide this truth. > He is banned for fighting and exposing the double standards on the SDMB. The thread on the ATMB was closed quickly to put an end to the support he received. A warning added in the closing post. Threads about this banning are not wanted. He was not banned for exposing any double standard. He posted a bunch of lies about Jews that he should have known were false. When called on it he didn’t retract them rather he went on the offensive. > [@Xamatix](#): > > Face it: Hypocrisy, cruelty, double standards and jingoism is what made him go overboard. You all and myself included would have lost it long before if standing in his shoes. You need to face it. Aldebaran would make a post containing inaccursies or outright lies and when called on it would refuse to provide a cite or a source. He routinely judged all Americans by the actions of one and then got pissy when people did the same to Arabs. > [@Xamatix](#): > > In case you wonder why after many years of lurking I make a thread to post this: > I know Aldebaran since he was a kid. I gave him a link to the SDMB. I told him this board had many posters with an open mind able to understand his side. How much I regret this. I didn?t know about the double standards shared by some of the administration and members. Are you playing the victim card now also? This board largely has an open mind and are willing to accept any view point. What they are not willing to accept are personal insults, not providing cites and frankly lying to support your position. > [@Xamatix](#): > > Mehitabel is an other good example of the SDMB siding with an American poster against someone they saw as the enemy. She wasn?t even warned while she deserved a banning long ago for what she did. How often I felt like telling her what I thought. Aldebaran didn?t want people to have a link between him and an other member. Reading her posts made **me** feel sick and I wasn?t even the object of her obsession. I should have done something about it. Mehitabel is an idiot and many posters on this board have called him on it. Did you not see the mod warning in Aldebaran’s large pit thread about his warning? > [@Xamatix](#): > > The administration would do the board and every member a service by reconsidering its decision about Aldebaran?s banning. He asked EdZotti to think about it after what ever time period they see as right. On a board about fighting ignorance Aldebaran’s actions in zev’s thread are inexcusable and given his history the banning was well deserved. I am tired of this victim spiel for Aldebaran’s thread. He was a biggoted, self-righteous asshole and deserved the banning. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/5 "2005-01-13T21:02:36Z")
I too saw double-standards in Aldebaran’s banning. Westernised bigotry gets handled in a few snarky comments by subsequent posters and maybe a small warning from the Mods. Anti-American bigotry got him banned. A point I’ve made before - I can’t say for certain that, If I was Iraqi, I wouldn’t be shooting Americans. Should I get banned for that? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/6 "2005-01-13T21:04:14Z")
I suggets you report **New Iskander** ’s post, see what happens and then complain. Then go tell snuggums I miss his posts like I miss having an extra hole in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/7 "2005-01-13T21:10:01Z")
> [@Xamatix](#): > > Face it: Hypocrisy, cruelty, double standards and jingoism is what made him go overboard. You all and myself included would have lost it long before if standing in his shoes. So you agree that he went overboard? Do you also agree that he did so after repeated and continuous warnings? I don’t see the argument. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/8 "2005-01-13T21:10:46Z")
Censorship my Aunt Alice. All very dramatic, **Xamatix** and **wisernow** , but if you think that mooks like **New Iskander** represent majority opinion here, if you think the Mods of this board actually support such attitudes, or if you think you are somehow going to immediately be banned either for objecting to **Alde’s** dismissal or to **New Iskander’s** frankly repulsive threads, you really haven’t been reading the content here very carefully. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/9 "2005-01-13T21:11:56Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I too saw double-standards in Aldebaran’s banning. Westernised bigotry gets handled in a few snarky comments by subsequent posters and maybe a small warning from the Mods. Anti-American bigotry got him banned. The fuck it did. Being an asshole and posting his fictious quotes in zev’s thread did. [Read](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294554) Ed Zotti’s explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/10 "2005-01-13T21:16:19Z")
> [@Xamatix](#): > > Occasionally my IP’s get incorporated in Aldebaran’s proxies. Maybe one was in use when he posted here. I don’t know. I don’t think he knows. But there you go. Um…huh? ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/11 "2005-01-13T21:23:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Um…huh? Ditto? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/12 "2005-01-13T21:27:43Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > If you will note, **New Iskander** is being pretty thoroughly scorned on his thread (as he is on ost of the silly threads he posts). That is not exactly an indication that the Teeming Millions accept and rejoice in his hatred. **New Iskander** is, in fact, advocating the beating and torture of Iraqi detainees, and should receive an official warning for it. In my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/13 "2005-01-13T21:29:23Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Um…huh? I presume that **Xamatix** is saying that if the Mods happen to check, that they may find that both **Xamatix** and **Aldebaran** have posted from the same IP address, thus raising the possibility that **Xamatix** is **Aldebaran** ’s sock. Not that I’M saying such a thing; anyway, I suppose both could have used the same proxy server at some point. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/14 "2005-01-13T21:31:40Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > **New Iskander** is, in fact, advocating the beating and torture of Iraqi detainees,. The safety word is “banana.” ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/15 "2005-01-13T21:32:24Z")
I’m kind of sad Alde got banned. I liked it when he took the time to shed light on issues in a different way than we Americans usually think about things. But, in all fairness, he also refused to play by the board’s rules, claimed victimhood when he was reminded of the rules, and, to my recollection, had several forays into matters that were clearly meant to be inflammatory and offensive. I’d rather have him around, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. **New Iskander** is a grade-A asshole. I never really thought about them in comparison, and I have not formed an opinion on what might or should be done about him. But I must note thatin **Ed Zotti** ’s post about Alde: “We take this opportunity to remind all users in these difficult times that hate speech, inflammatory remarks, threats, etc., will not be tolerated on this board. Users who cannot behave themselves will be banned.” I never really paid much attention to the prohibition on inflammatory remarks and hate speech, but that Abu Ghraib thread started by New Iskander seems to be a fine example of both of those behaviors. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/16 "2005-01-13T21:35:38Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I presume that **Xamatix** is saying that if the Mods happen to check, that they may find that both **Xamatix** and **Aldebaran** have posted from the same IP address, thus raising the possibility that **Xamatix** is **Aldebaran** ’s sock. Not that I’M saying such a thing; anyway, I suppose both could have used the same proxy server at some point. :eek: In _Belgium_? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/17 "2005-01-13T21:57:57Z")
The mods quite clearly bent over backwards for Aldebaran. His “unique insight” bought him fewer warnings for very jerkish behaviour than Joe Troll would enjoy. I’m really not getting where people are getting this “He was banned because of his Anti-Western views” BS from. He recognised his looser leash exploiting and testing it to the full, with predictable consequences. Saying “Ah ha! Nasty\_Bastard said so and so about whoever and he hasn’t got a warning you biased buggers!” isn’t helpful at all as the mods are only human so expecting omniscient and uniformly consistent behaviour is unrealistic. Maybe when computers can mod. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xamatix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e274bd/32.png) [@Xamatix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xamatix)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/18 "2005-01-13T22:00:08Z")
Tomndebb: Of course I watched his postings since the beginning. He got dragged into the pit after a few posts by the same who attacked right to the end. I’ts not about doing nothing wrong. He did. He knows it. He admitted his faults. I have copy of mails he wrote to the administration after his banning. He asked me to say what he did wrong in these letters. Why he received such a hostile reply. I couldn’t say what he did wrong. He was right all along. It’s about the double standards. It’s about the lack of willingness to accept a member with other views on what happens in Iraq and the Middle East. He got warned for a comment on US soldiers. He was called a jerk for a comment on US soldiers. Others advocate killings of Iraqis, Middle Easterners, Muslims. They get away with almost everything. I don’t even talk about what one of the administration did. If you were in his shoes you would have gotten furious long before he did. treis: It’s not about a few quotes and you know it. It’s not even right to say he gave false information. He gave a lead where the quotes can be traced right beneath them. If you are too lazy to look it up you have only yourself to blame for it. He also said he added the comments of other members in his database. You better go look back and read what a moderator posted there. About knowing at least one member who believed in what the OP posted. If that was not an attack on Aldebaran then I don’t know what it was. If you want to see examples of false information go take a look at GD. See how much you find there. Completed with cites to websites famous for their bias and false information. Hell, I know Aldebaran said all this and more to the admins in his mails. He wrote them that even the Koran gets misquoted in GD. A book you can read in every language. Heck, I saw that myself. Quotes out of context, pieces of a verse, false interpretations with as cite a link to a hateful Christian website. Once you had even a thread about what a poster said the shahada meant. (that is the recitation a muslim has to say to become muslim). Aldebaran and other Muslims said to that member that he was wrong. He kept saying he was right and brought websites who were not even Islamic in the debate as a proof for his claim. Go to the political threads and look at the crap that gets defended there until the debaters virtually drop dead. You can’t have debates if you don’t start with posting something first. Aldebaran never participated in a thread about Israel. He didn’t want to get dragged in such a hornets nest. But I know from his comments that he had much respect for a jewish member here. Others: I don’t try to say Aldebaran didn’t go overboard. He doesn’t say he is innocent himself either. He knows what went wrong. It’s about what drove him over the edge. You can’t deny the double standards here. An international message board must be able to accept different views then what the majority of its members support because they are of the same culture. Greetings. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/19 "2005-01-13T22:05:22Z")
> [@](#): > > In Belgium? Aw hell, I always thought he spent most of his time in Belgium anyway; I just didn’t care about it as much as a few other folks did. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596/20 "2005-01-13T22:07:58Z")
Although **New Iskander** can be, um, interesting, I’ve never seen anything from him quite so appalling as his current thread. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a discussion among the mods about it. Aldeberan was repeatedly over the top. Straws and Camel’s backs and all that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aldebaran-new-iskander-the-double-standards-of-the-sdmb/284596.md?page=2)