Taking a Stand

From a discussion on ISIS/IS/ISIL or whatever else they're being called these days:

I have mixed feelings on what our reaction should be, oddly enough In specific, the burning of the Jordanian pilot, alive, and whether or not links should have been hosted by news sites.

I admit, I have viewed the video. It was not on Fox, nor any affiliate I'm aware of. I wanted to see the reactions and bearing of those carrying it not, not so much the act itself. What I saw was deeply disturbing. And yes, to those who've made the comment, there is no getting that sort of thing out of your head once you've seen it. If you aren't prepared for that, you shouldn't make the choice to view it.

Anger? We should be angry. We should be furious that there are people out there who carry out these callous, inhuman acts with such quiet pride and detachment. We should also be informed about who these people are, and direct our anger accurately. This group uses a religion as a tool to oppress others. They take bits and pieces to serve themselves, not some prophet or Allah, or anyone else. They are not the same as those who try to live their lives to a certain creed or ideology. They are not the same as those they are oppressing using parts of that ideology .

These people are attempting to eradicate entire groups of people who they have branded 'infidels' and thus unworthy of being treated as fellow human beings - see the Yazidi as a prime example. They have utilized brutality, slavery, rape, assassination, threats, hostages, and a false interpretation of and forced 'conversion' to a religion they only use to oppress others with. They have no redeeming factors.

The people they have claimed in their 'caliphate' are suffering from a lack of food, water, electricity, health services - they've taken the areas they have claimed by force back not only in their method of dating, but to technological and living levels that people are unprepared for, and unable to adapt to. And now they're not only beheading people, they're burning them alive and claiming to 'cleanse' those who have chosen to stand up to them. People who are, if claims made are to be believed, actual faithful followers of the religion IS purports to serve.

If viewing this sort of depravity and lack of humanity serves to convince people that we need to unite as fellow human beings and do something definitive about this radicalized group, then so be it - let it stand. If uninformed, unthinking people choose to use it as a broad brush to paint an entire religion with, its our responsibility to argue them down, and if possible, set them straight on what's really happening, and why that sort of talk is wrong.

Strongly-worded comments of condemnation are not going to cut it. Sanctions are not going to serve any purpose but to further harm the people living under a corrupt group of  fear-mongers and brutes who steal and redistribute whatever they find as they wish anyway - note the aid packages lately that IS relabeled and passed out as its own. This group cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be trusted. It does not wish to bargain, it only wishes to have its way, control entire regions, and wipe out any it dislikes or disavows. I've been trying to see how any way forward save violence will accomplish anything, and I've failed to find one. Peace is not a part of their plans. They don't care how upset we get - they feed off it.

Those in control in the local area need to stand up, unite, and take action - those who would support them need to do just that, but in a way that will not put us at the forefront and potentially exacerbate the long-running situation that has existed since god only knows how long now. Real support, mind. Not just sitting back and righteously condemning these acts of horror.


There is no clean, easy solution here. Innocents are going to suffer. There are no perfect ways of removing them from the inevitable crossfire. The thing that chiefly limits our response is the fact we do value lives, we do value freedom, and we do value individual worth in the grand scheme of things. IS and those of like mind do not. They have absolutely no boundaries when it comes to what they are, and have been willing to do to enforce their rule. In the end, there are going to have to be some hard choices made if this movement is to be eradicated.

So, use their tools against them. Put out our own propaganda. Educate people on what's actually going on. Twist their efforts on them. Fuel the outrage and point it where it ought to be directed. Channel it, focus it, and get the people to rise up and knock these bastards down hard enough that they won't come back to power again. Can you honestly think any other method is going to get any lasting results?

---

And now a caveat to all of that, because you know it couldn't possibly be that simple.

Nothing we do will convince the diehard extremists  of anything, short of eradication. I remain convinced of this. Everything they've done cements that in my mind. At the same time, the actions that have been taken by US and other forces, the history of the overall region, the clashes that have gone on for hundreds if not thousands of years, and the all too human need for justice, vengeance, acknowledgment, and a target for anger have poisoned the well of what might have been good will.

There are thousands of innocents caught in the crossfire. We've been to blame for deaths. And with every military action taken, it is likely we will continue to be responsible for more. Given how things operate over there, I haven't been able to fathom how a zero civilian loss scenario would be plausible. I wish to heaven that wasn't so.

We need to do more to help those people wherever possible. We need to try and curtail as much of the violence against them as possible. We need to engage in efforts to earn some trust, in real, tangible ways, in addition to whatever else is being done at the time.

And we need to accept that even if we manage to shut down this group, now being hailed as the most economically powerful terrorist organization in history, that problems will remain. And our part in helping cause them needs to be owned, not swept under the rug as 'unpatriotic talk'.

Hit their economic bases. Hack their accounts. Drain their funds. And show those we capture no mercy. There's your hard choices - taking off the supposed white hat in reality, and not just when convenient in the shadows. Do what is necessary for the greater good. And be prepared for the inevitable backlash and consequences.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics ... ok, not the latter, but here we go.

Well, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it?

In the interim, I've moved from Bank to Eggs to unemployed to working with a group to get an animation studio off the ground, the latter of which while I've been dealing with health issues that no, I am not going to get into here. Suffice it to say, my body has turned traitor, my joints have been at the heart of it, and after a year and a half of ick, here we are. Huzzah.

You know what hasn't changed though? Internet Bastardry. Nope, still large and looming, and generally being an annoyance. I'll share the latest, seeing as against party line, I'm more than a little fed up. What's good for the goose, neh?

Since this is viewable - or ought to be, at least - this is where we'll begin. If not there, perhaps here.

Now, mind you, this has been going on for over three years. Yes folks. Three. Years.

Three years of lies and slander/libel what have you. Three years of banging ones head against a wall and then bawling about how the resulting headache is someone else's fault.

You know what, forget the links. I'll just put the insanity here as well. Why not? He certainly hasn't had a problem with flinging it, and more like it, all over the web.

Clint Henry Hoyt
February 15 at 4:01pm ·

This is something that has to be said and done, something that must be told as it seems that I am being ignored for the reason that I am telling the truth. I am still hoping for a peaceful end to what many are calling a Cyber-war between me and NationStates.
I have asked again and again to be allowed back onto NationStates, to show I am not the troll that I was wrongly made out to be. But all I have been given is a smear and troll campaign by two so-called 'moderators' namely Frisbeeteria and Dread Lady Nathicana, two thugs who have made my life a living hell and have also targeted other sites because I am on them. Sites like Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt have been attacked by 'hired trolls' who claim to be working for the two, which I did find out was true.It would have ended if it was not for the fact I was not going to take it sitting down, I was not going to let them win. They had started the war and I was going to finish it. I was going to show them for what they were: Faceless cowards who hide behind a computer and would not show their faces because they knew that the truth would be shown to the world. So I decided to show my face in a YouTube appeal that would end the stupidity and perhaps get the Moderators and Admins to finally listen. But It ended with The Hired Trolls launching an attack and then one of then threatened to have me and my family killed. That caused me to contact the FBI and reported the threat. This has ended up with the Feds investigating the threat and going after the people who have launched it.Also the fact that Frisbeeteria and DLN have tried to target those who supported my cause, by trying to get all people who had mental disabilities, like me, banned from the site. This had turned many people off and on NationStates against them, along with the hacking attacks, the trolling and the threats, all of which have been lead by Frisbeeteria and DLN. I have tried to get in contact with the Moderators and Admins, to try to tell them my side of what happened on February of 2012, but My pleads have been ignored and mocked, even when I decided to defy the unjust Delete-on-Sight order by posting my case, The posts were deleted, along with the nations I used. This shows that someone has something to hide.What I have to say will be posted again on NationStates and perhaps deleted by whoever wants to truth covered up. But I will also post this on other sites, sites like Facebook and DeviantArt and others that the Trolls, Frisbeeteria and DLN can not reach or hide the truth from the people. Sites that will allow this to be shown.I have also other things to say.To Frisbeeteria and Dread Lady Nathicana: You are nothing but bullies, faceless cowards who have nothing else but to smear and ruin other people's lives. I hate to say this but people outside NationStates are not as stupid as you think they are. You made a enemy of a person who could have been your friend, and you started something that you can not stop. You have lost this war, you just refuse to see it.To the Other Moderators and Admins of NationStates: I have nothing against you, you are just doing your jobs. But yet you have been blind to the actions happening around you. I have tried to get you to see, yet you have done nothing. And when Good men and women do nothing, that is evil enough. I am only asking for an end to the stupidity that started four years ago and hope that I am allowed back to NationStates someday.And to the Trolls who have targeted me and others: You are nothing but thugs and terrorists. Criminals who prey on those weaker then you. You are faceless cowards and you run away when someone calls you out on it, hiding behind others like you. You will always be nothing, you will not win. It is over for you trolls and you will be brought to justice.This is all I have to say and I hope that you will all finally listen to reason. If you have any reason at all, then listen and read this and may be you will understand.

Uh huh. Did y'all get all of that? Right then. To the real story behind all of this drivel.

The problem with this scenario is that it is a lie, from start to finish. Clint is the only one who has had issues. He was unable to get along with players and to operate within the site rules on NationStates, in spite of repeated efforts by some players and the Moderators to help him, to stop others from picking on him, and to let him know what he was doing wrong.

He continually harassed, flamed, insulted other players, generally made a nuisance of himself, lost numerous nations, and was given more chances than most to change his behavior. He stubbornly refused to. Just as he has stubbornly refused to take any responsibility for himself or his actions for the past several years while he has carried on the only 'smear campaign' that has happened on account of all of this.

Having a disability is no excuse for slandering, libel, making threats against persons and sites, lying about people and their actions, making false statements either about having filed complaints with federal authorities or having made false complaints to said authorities, and generally being a cowardly bully in his words and actions - much as he has falsely accused others of being.

No one in a position of authority, myself included, has harassed him off site. He, on the other hand, has taken every opportunity to spread falsehoods about us, to defame us on various sites, to illegally use images that he has not rights to, to mock and troll us, to drum up campaigns against the site itself, to threaten DDOS attacks on the site, and then, refusing to respond when finally called on it.

We have had a 'hands off' and 'no response' policy in regards to him, given his behaviors, but after this last spate, where players on our site were concerned that we actually had been involved in some sort of 'conspiracy' to pick on a kid with disabilities, I have had enough.

I reached out to his relatives, and got no response. I have reached out to him, and got no response. I have asked that he remove me from his posts, to no avail. He has no intention of being honorable, or telling the truth. He would clearly rather sit and lie, and fish for sympathy over his false cause, and be the very thing he is erroneously accusing others of doing to him.

There is no conspiracy. He, like many others, was banned from the site due to his own poor behavior, and unwillingness to change it. His actions since have only strengthened the resolve of the entire Moderation team to be sure that he is not allowed back on the site. Anyone who is willing to make threats against it has no right to be there. Anyone who is going to go out of their way for three years to carry on a lie, and wrongly accuse others of being trolls, bullies, and cowards when he is the only one engaging in those behaviors, has no right to be allowed back to continue the same actions he was banned for to begin with.

We have his posts. We have his entire warning record. We have all the telegrams and proofs necessary should we be required to bring them to light. We have done him a favor by not bringing them up every time he tries to start something on the site, especially after making a Youtube video and directing people to it - which apparently elicited some rather nasty responses - none of which we encouraged, nor approve of.

If Clint cannot learn to treat others with the sort of respect and actions he wishes to be treated with himself, I am afraid his life is going to be full of these sorts of disappointments. His family is certainly remiss in allowing him to carry on this fantasy, and slander others in this way, and make himself a target of those trolls and bullies who do exist out there on the internet. Given he clearly requires some supervision, it almost smacks of abuse itself. Apparently, they seem to be encouraging his delusion that he was 'wrongfully banned' and 'bullied by the mod team - or at least a pair of them', in spite of some of their commentary to the contrary.

It is a sad situation all around. But this is the truth of it - not his warped vision of poor pitiful me he has been spewing. I've sat quietly and let it be, thinking perhaps he would tire of the game and go on do to other more productive things, but enough is enough. He needs to stop. And if he won't, there really needs to be some consequences for his actions.