Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 09:21:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Gerald Levy <glevy-AT-pratt.edu>
Subject: M-TH: Re: Jerry's claims


I will respond to Chris B's post in two parts: (1) by summarizing the
importance of the claims against Louis Proyent; and (2) by discussing the
actions of the moderators of m-int and their implications.

(1) Louis P threatened to rat on Hans E, Chris B, and myself. He claimed
that the threat against Hans E was a "joke." He claimed that the threat to
report Chris B to his professional association was a "joke." It is a very
odd kind of "joke" that keeps reappearing as a _pattern_. The *intent* of
these jokes was to _silence_ Hans E and Chris B and drive them into
unsubscription. By any standard, therefore, the threats themselves were
*more than* jokes. In my case, he revealed information that was given to
him in confidence *repeatedly* knowing that it could have possible
negative consequences in terms of my employment at Pratt Institute. In
this case, he provided information to *management* against a *union
member* knowing that it could be used by mgt. against me. The proof for
this is in the m-int archives. Now, Louis claims it was all a "joke." If
it was a "joke", it was a very special kind of joke in that it was not
only malicious but also ... as Louis P admitted himself ... could be
used by mgt. to discipline me. Consequently, all of Louis's
rationalizations will not stand a close scrutiny of what Louis said and
when he said it. The archives themselves and the time line show Louis to
be a liar. They also show him to be a person who will stop at *nothing* to
get even with someone that he doesn't like -- up to and including
flagrantly anti-labor _actions_.

(2) I appealed to the moderators of m-int and was subsequently suspended
>from posting for two weeks by them. Chris believes that my calling them
"stooges" was too harsh. Let's see. *Why* was I suspended?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 00:33:221
>To: MI
>From: Zeynep Tufekcioglu <zeynept-AT-turk.net>
>Subject: Jerry Levy is suspended for two weeks
>
>Dear list-members,
>
>Jerry Levy has been suspended from posting to the list for two weeks.
>
>He has made the following post to Marxism-thaxis in which he calls members
of Marxism-International and Marxism-General "the worst kind of Marxist
dogs". <snip>
>His suspension is mainly due to insulting all the list members in a
>completely unqualified and ugly manner. His remarks on Marxism-thaxis can
>only hinder attempts to foster critical dialogue among Marxists around
>the world. <snip>

In short, I was suspended from posting to m-int because I made critical
comments about m-int on _another_ list (m-th). Firstly, this decision by
the moderators violates the established rules of m-int. Secondly, this is
a chilling message to subscribers of all Spoons lists. The message,
simply, is that if you are critical of one list on another list then you
can then be suspended from the list you were critical of. This, as far as
I know of, is the first time that any Spoons list has unsubbed someone for
that reason. I believe this is a question that should be addressed by both
marx-admin and spoon-admin. If they find that it is now OK to unsub
someone for that reason, then everyone on every Spoons list needs to be
told. Thirdly, while I was in the process of appealing to the m-int
moderators for action re Proyent, *I* am unsubscribed. This, combined with
the fact that all three m-int moderators *are* personal friends of LP, led
me to nickname them his "stooges." In my opinion, they have acted like
stooges. They didn't really investigate the charges. They didn't even
bother to read the m-int posts that LP had written in November re this
affair. They simply acted to defend their friend. I will, therefore, stand
by my position that m-int is bankrupt and that this is partially because
of the actions and inactions of the m-int moderators.

Jerry



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