The “moderation” had to be because of the holidays. How could anyone (on such a widely

discussed subject) censor such a hilarious well-rhymed offering. Good as a hole in one!

I loved this poem. It is witty, clever and well done. It is timely and funny. If even came with a disclaimer. Don’t read it if you are a Tiger fan. So what is the problem here?

Concur with Riki. I will link to it from Facebook

There may be a copyright issue. On other web sites, we have to be very careful with unattributed poems and other writings, lest they be copyright material.

There may be a flaw with the review process at this blogsite – if Judy can publish the poem readily as a blog entry, but it is held back for review when posted as a comment, you can see their could be an issue – that is, if you feel censorship is warranted.

It is great to Karen Allison here – I didn’t realize she is a reader at this blogsite – one of my early bridge heroes

After reading the last two comments, it aroused my curiosity and I did a bit of research on the internet. It was originally sent to me by a friend in jest and no one took credit for it. However, after atttempting to get more information, I was shocked to note it smeared all over the internet (Trap, Jim Traber, Bob.Blitz. et al ) — but a more crass version sung on You Tube — that is unto itself. No one seemed to take credit for the verse as I saw no acknowledged author anywhere. Alas, Clement Moore .. see what you started!

I’ve written amateur shows and poems all my life (usually bridge related) , but I never approached the talent of the anonymous author. I was in awe as I thought it was so clever. Deserved or undeserved — who is to say?

It certainly beats squeezes and end plays (no pun intended)!

The message was caused because the author had set up the blog to require his/her approval of comments and hasn’t yet checked them.

Bridge blogging does some filtering of comments. Most of it is based on words which do not belong anywhere but a porn site. The rest of the filtering is based on checking for spam which is normally identified by strange symbols and languages and multiple links. I went through the entire 8 pages of spam that my blog filter had found and I did find one legitimate comment.

Some bloggers set their blogs up to require mediation. They want to personally check all comments. (Too much work for me). If they have done that then you would get the message you saw. With the holidays they may not have been checking comments.

While this is a bridge site some discussion of other topics is natural and reasonable.

I don’t believe that copying an unaccredited poem is a breach of copyright but I am not an expert. I wouldn’t worry about it in any case.

Thanks for the explanation, Linda. It makes sense. I was not aware that my site’s comments were subject to mediation. My blogs and comments have always been constructive, honorable and above board. I respect the ability to be creative before a wide audience and often get private emails and comments thanking me for my candor. Many people are too shy (or lazy) to go on line to respond and that is their prerogative.

I do understand why Ray chose to close my earlier infamous 92 comment site because he felt it was denigrated — but I couldn’t fathom this subject ‘awaiting moderation” would fall into that category. In fact, I was so distressed (as were others) that I started googling “Twas the Night of Thanksgiving” and stumbled upon several exact replicas of the poem — and on U Tube an identical musical version (which I have been unable to relocate since I originally saw it). However, beside U Tube, many other ‘newsy blogsites’ displayed dozens of insiduous references to the same subject matter quoted from newspapers and broadcasts which were much more raunchy than the one sent to me by my friend which I reprinted. Being an amateur poet myself, I always admired rhymers who use names and facts to make it realistic and clever. Such was the case of “Anonymous” who capitalized on what he or she gleaned from the media.

It is comforting to know we still have freedom of the press. I think the greater lesson to be learned from the incident is that everyone is responsible for his or her actions — especially those in the public eye — whether human or feline.

To be very specific, this comment was moderated because of the keyword “sex”. All comments that have words like this will automatically be sent for moderation, because USUALLY, when words such as “sex”, “viagra”, “intercourse”, “anal”, etc. etc. are from spammers. Some words, like “sex”, just require moderation. Whereas other words, such as “viagra”, “anal”, etc., will be automatically marked as spam.

I hope that very specific explanation clears matters up.

Have a happy holidays!

P.S. My comment above was also recognized as spam — it doesn’t matter who makes the comment, if any of the black-listed words appear anywhere in the post (even as a part of a word — such as “analysis”) — then the comment will either be marked for moderation (and you will see a “moderated” message) or marked as spam (you will NOT see a “moderated” message — the comment will just seem to vanish into thin air).

Hi Luise:

There is nothing like being informed and I appreciate your detailed explanation.

In the case of scanning, it must work like a robot — attacking the possibly unacceptable words for the site. Someone recently told me he ran into the same problem (awaiting moderation) — and believe it or not it was for the word you cited: anal-ysis. Pretty clever — these robots!

Happy holidays to you and everyone at bridgeblogging.com

Judy

Luise:

I just responded and must have used a “no-no” as my comment seems to have flown into the spam file. It matters not.

However, it does bring back memories in my youth here in the States (long before you were born) where movies were subject to strict censorship. Probably the most famous one was Howard Hughes’ version of “The Outlaw” with Jane Russell in 1944 and over twenty years later another came to mind — Otto Preminger in 1967 disobeyed the censors and produced “The Moon Is Blue.” At one time, the Censorship Board required a Seal of Approval bearing a number. The so-called “Boards” (which changed their names from time to time) would have had massive coronaries if they saw what was on the big screen today (or the radio, TV or newspapers — for that matter). We’ve come a long, long way. It’s a brave new world.

Since it is easy to see both sides of this discussion, mark me without a firm opinion, but one who realizes that, at least to me, this perceived or better yet, realistic serious problem, has deeper roots and one which, at least, fringes negatively on the bridge world.

Perhaps in the old days (I like to think of it as during the Greatest Generation of being an adult around the time of the Second World War, which was before my time, since I was only a naive and impressionable kid) people, particularly those who showed significant leadership, took on responsibilities for being role models. Since then, the ME generation was born and has darkened this planet (and I speak mainly for North America but it certainly implies in spades to the whole world), where morals, political and financial chicanery, violence, fabrications and lies, and even virulent cheating or merely obviating restrictive proper behavior has become our rule and therefore our master.

On a more understandable level, perhaps our bridge forefathers such as Lee Hazen and Waldemar Von Zedtwitz (both forceful, innovative and great people) and the whole hierarchy of the ACBL at that time dealt with bridge cheaters, probably thinking they were such a miniscule minority that, in order not to create scandal and hurtfull and dangerous lawsuits with mere admonitions and temporary suspensions. Also, probably deluding themselves to surmise that despicable trait was so abnormal it would just vanish. If true, we must mark one down for our Greatest Generation bridge leaders.

Aberrant bridge players which include bridge politicians who refuse to see the overall picture about the ACBL’s responsibility to fairly field our best teams (three top partnerships) in International competition by dealing politically with current fads and mores (hands off because it could lose votes), despite other obvious agendas which fit the ME philosophy have been left unchecked and therefore tacitly encouraged.

I could go on, but it is doubtful that it is necessary, since it could only lead to either some invoking the fifth amendment or, more liikely, just to ignore it since it comes from only a single voice.

Back to the future and for me to only express my concern and sadness to think of others writing improper blogs using either “porn” or improper language to express themselves, which, if acknowledged, seriously threatens the value of the whole process.

Just perhaps, if others who may agree, would express their scorn and like concern and not tolerate aberrant writing and/or open their eyes, ears and mouths to voice concern over the subject matter here which is discussed, maybe we could right this ship, and at least in the bridge world, sail off to making us all proud to be members of the future high-level bridge community instead of shrugging our shoulders and deny individual responsibility.

I shudder to think that I may have misfigured and the significant majority either do not care or, more likely, is primarily made up of irresponsible wrongdoers who are profiting from it being exactly like it is.

Bobby — I hear what you are saying, however, it is not people writing improper blogs whom we are trying to stop. We are trying to stop robots that just spread out and search the internet for any possible website to post their garbage, it doesn’t matter what site they hit, if your website has a lot of traffic (and bridgeblogging does — that’s good news, right?), then you become a target for malicious attacks by robots who were invented by people who just get their kicks out of breaking stuff.

I love the internet — without it, I would never have had the opportunity to meet you and Judy and all of the other bloggers with whom I have become fond of reading. That being said, however, we all know that the world contains a lot of bad apples. While the Internet is great at bringing people together, unfortunately, it brings EVERYONE together — including those people for whom we would rather not have had any association with. And all it takes is one really bad apple to write one really bad robot and they can wreak a LOT of havoc on the internet.

I have temporarily allowed all keywords on your site, Judy. It may not be necessary any longer (the spam filter may be smart enough now to know the difference without the overrides that I originally set up when we were being bombarded). As of right now, the only word that is blacklisted on Judy’s site is “Viagra”… Let’s see what happens 🙂

The humorous aspect of this entire series of above blogs is that they surfaced when I quoted a cleverly written poem of unknown origin. I personally would not use vulgarities in a blog or comment (though it may run through my mind in the passion of the moment).

To me, far worse than vulgarity (the primary object of spam and moderation) is the defiance and stupidity of those not around at the time of specially referred to happenings who challenge statements of fact witnessed by many who lived, breathed and suffered through the torment and underhanded methods of the earllier decades — especially at the highest level.

I recently spoke to the legendary and respected Canadian bridge authority, Eric Murray, long retired from active bridge and his legal career, residing in Canada. He reminded me of a hand (which Bobby actually cited some time ago) — but it is protests of doubt and insults by people NOT qualified to voice opinions — that are far worse than the censorship of the naughty words!!!!! Soon as time permits I will blog my conversation with Eric and reprint the accounting of the same hand from Bobby’s eyes. When you see the fifty-two cards and hear the auction, you will understand there are far worse things than the proverbial four-letter-words and their cousins.

Judy — you still are forgetting the problems we had over a year ago when those “four-letter words” were allowed. We were getting hundreds of comments (not an exageration!!) from a single robot in the span of an hour, the blog was being completely cluttered up with inappropriate content and, at the time, I made use of every filtering tool at my disposal to eliminate these offensive comments so that we could facilitate some kind of meaningful discussions. The comments were hindering this completely.

As I said in my post above, the steps that I used to implement these spam filters a year ago may not be necessary any longer. I think the filters we are using now are actually pretty good, so I have removed all of the censoring words that I personally added as an additional protection. If we start getting bombarded again with hundreds of comments as was true a year ago, I may need to put them back.

Hi Luise,

There is not a doubt in my mind that you do your job (bad robot kill) in a superior way and furthermore that you care greatly that it is done. Your combined group (Ray, Linda, Eric, you and no doubt others I have not worked directly with) leave no stone unturned to combat site evil.

It is this and other evils I wish to try and eliminate. Many of us discuss things and people, but usually discussing ideas is all that is worthwhile. Can any of us realize just how harmful some humans can be in their plans to destruct? Should anyone worth his ticket to life even begin to think himself justified to throw tacks in the road in front of others who seek to make better, communicate, inform or entertain? Can anyone, especially in the name of religion, justify mass atrocities in search of what he thinks may be a better life for him or his?

How about in bridge for anyone to condone stealthy cheating in the name of stopping lawsuits, claiming to be of a forgiving nature or just feeling that he doesn’t want to contribute to someone, however wrong, to be done out of being able to make a living. It is this human condition I want to attack and continue to do so until I check out.

For whatever reason, all worthwhile people should have a balance between right and wrong and until, at least for me in the bridge world, this balance needs to be discussed and better yet dissected for clarity, and until then, I prefer not to rest.

Again, Luise, I appreciate your individual efforts, but also fervently hope that you also see the far distant light which needs to be attained and use your considerable talent, aggressiveness and intelligence to help achieve it.

” Moderation ” is good, censorship is religious….” careful ” is a slow defender or declarer, and Tiger has been exposed..for a further reference to the potentially great harm that can be caused by the evil ” bot “, just review the movie ” Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow “…what’s our next blog going to be JKW

Welcome Back Blair!

Thanks for asking. Barring anything unforeseen, my next blog (soon as I clear off the clutter of mail and bills from my computer desktop) will be a wonderful telephone conversation with one of the world’s most respected semi-retired players from Canada — the delightful, charming raconteur — Eric Rutherford Murray (longtime partner of another Canadian great Sami Kehela) who played on teams with both Norman (and Edgar) and Bobby as well.