Saturday, December 23, 2006

Radio Silence

It has been several days since I launched this blog and so far no response from DovBear. The offending posts remain and not even an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from DovBear. Nor has anyone come forward with a defense of any substance. That is because there is none. Instead, in comments to the prior post, many in the "old bloggers club" have laughed off my blog with "big deal" or "he has too much time on his hands." Of course, these comments do not respond, explain or justify DovBear's plagiarism. I may have "too much time on my hands," but is that worse than passing off someone else's political commentary or Torah thoughts as one's own? And then turning around and criticizing others for being soft on plagiarism?

The only comment which attempted to make a substantive defense of DovBear, was this one left on a different blog:
About half of the alleged plagiarisms are not that at all. If you look at them, you’ll see they’re made up of a large quote from a common third source, a source that is not unique and whose unse is not unique. The text indroducing or following the quote has the same meaning in both cases, but the wording is different.
I frankly don't understand what this means. Of course, in some of the examples, parts of DovBear's plagiarized posts consist of citations to a common third source. But the remainder of those same posts are lifted word for word from DovBear's source as well. See this post for example. While both DovBear and his source, Robert Kaiser, cite common classical Jewish texts, such as an verse in Ezekiel and Gemara in Sanhedrin, DovBear also rips off the introductory language from Robert Kaiser's essay word for word (e.g., "Classical Jewish texts concur that God did *not* destroy Sodom and Gemorrah because their inhabitants were homosexual...."). This is plagiarism plain and simple.

DovBear's repeated cutting and pasting swaths of text from other websites can only be explained as an attempt to make readers believe that those texts originate from DovBear, rather than writers like Robert Kaiser, Jonathan Chait or Andrew Sullivan. The clear effect of these posts is to make readers believe, "man, that boy can write." And this impression has been procured fraudulently.

In researching DovBear's plagiarism, what struck me was the fact that every other blog that cited the articles cribbed by DovBear properly attributed the original author. Blogs like Orthomom and Godol Hador often paste articles collected on the Internet. But they attribute the source. So the notion that "it's just a blog" should offend the many bloggers that have chimed in in support of DovBear.

It may be that DovBear is smart, witty and articulate. But to the extent he gets this reputation from his blog it is a result of lying and stealing. It's that simple.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

It may be that DovBear is smart, witty and articulate. But to the extent he gets this reputation from his blog it is a result of lying and stealing. It's that simple.

I wonder if his advertisers will pull their ads now?

Nyah. Liberals love lying tactics like his. Betchya his liberal readership will now INCREASE.

Anonymous said...

Hey, stop picking on me! (insert whiney voice here).

The name "DovBear" was created by me, the original DovBear (TM).

Your stupid blog has pissed off my wife, Mrs. DovBear, and now she doesn't care for ANY gift that I could get her based on my blog's "feed the bear" campaign.

She doesn't even want me emailing young, hot, female bloggers...like hot channie (anymore).

YMedad said...

Nice going. I don't know what takes longer - to write original material or skim through the Internet looking for stuff to steal

Anonymous said...

DovBear did respond. He sent a very fine apology to all of the people on your original distribution list. You can see it on Classmate Wearing Yarmulka's site.

As for myself, I have to wonder why you're trying to take down Dov's blog. He performs a valuable blogosphere service, and not because he has any special credibility or authority (he doesn't) but because he provides a place for all types of people to talk about anything. His talent, if he has one, is that he gets people talking. Why would you try to ruin that? Are you jealous because he is popular?

Yes, he stole some passages from other writers (though more than one of your examples are pretty pathetic) and yes, that's deplorable, but he blogs twenty times a day. Frankly, I am surprised there aren't many more posts with problems. Ten examples of plagiarism out of 3000 posts isn't too terrible, especially when you weigh it against his site's high value.

Anonymous said...

What a joke. There's no such thing as an acceptable level of plagiarism. Dovbear ripped off others thoughts and writings and claimed they were his own. I don't care how many posts he writes a day. Let him write fewer and be a resposible ethical person. I don't see some of the other prolific bloggers ripping other peoples material off. Your apologia for dovbear rings hollow and pathetic. Unless you're him. Which, now that I think of it, seems entirely possible.

Anonymous said...

What a joke. There's no such thing as an acceptable level of plagiarism. Dovbear ripped off others thoughts and writings and claimed they were his own. I don't care how many posts he writes a day. Let him write fewer and be a resposible ethical person. I don't see some of the other prolific bloggers ripping other peoples material off. Your apologia for dovbear rings hollow and pathetic. Unless you're him. Which, now that I think of it, seems entirely possible.

Jack Steiner said...

It has been several days since I launched this blog and so far no response from DovBear. The offending posts remain and not even an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from DovBear.

What do you want? What is it that you hope to accomplish here?

Anonymous said...

So the notion that "it's just a blog"

We weren't defending DB with "it's just a blog," we were saying it's just DB. GET OVER YOURSELF.

Anonymous said...

He performs a valuable blogosphere service, and not because he has any special credibility or authority (he doesn't) but because he provides a place for all types of people to talk about anything. His talent, if he has one, is that he gets people talking.

Amen to that.

Anonymous said...

" Anonymous said...

He performs a valuable blogosphere service, and not because he has any special credibility or authority (he doesn't) but because he provides a place for all types of people to talk about anything. His talent, if he has one, is that he gets people talking.

Amen to that. "

Um, so he can steal other peoples ideas and pass them off as his own. Cool. So how much leeway do I get with that kind of 'the ends justify the means' argument in real life? Can I steal from the rich to provide for the poor? Can I shoot GWB because he is causing soldiers to die in iraq?

Stupid idiot.
Of course dovbear loses credibility. Saying he doesnt because his blog is a forum is like saying Hevesi should stay in office because hes a decent comptroller.

Anonymous said...

Stupid idiot.

Good argument there. And your comparison of a handful of missing attributions to robbery and murder shows how driven by hate you are, beyond any and all rational discourse.

Anonymous said...

Um, so he can steal other peoples ideas and pass them off as his own.

Is this really what he did? Of your 14 examples, 2 are completely bogus. Of the other 12, many might simply be a case of forgotten attribution. That's not hard core plagiarism. I think you have him on 2 maybe 3 instances of real stealing. Congratulations. Give yourself a medal and a pat on the head. The other 3000 posts are kosher, and anyway: who cares? DB isn't a reporter or student or a professional writer. As he'd be the first to tell you, he's just a dumb blogger. He's a (small) thief maybe, but he is our thief, and someone who has done plenty for the community and for other bloggers.

You, on the other hand, seem slightly unbalanced. You might want to see someone about all that hate.

Anonymous said...

It may be that DovBear is smart, witty and articulate. But to the extent he gets this reputation from his blog it is a result of lying and stealing. It's that simple.

He didn't acquire that reputation from the posts you cite on this smear blog of yours but from the other thousands of posts.

Anonymous said...

"Is this really what he did?"

Yes.

"Of your 14 examples, 2 are completely bogus."

They aren't my examples. I'm not the host here. Just an annoyed (former) reader of Dovbears, who disagrees with your asessment that he didnt plagiarize.

"Of the other 12, many might simply be a case of forgotten attribution. That's not hard core plagiarism. I think you have him on 2 maybe 3 instances of real stealing."

Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds? Not as stupid as your next argument though.

"The other 3000 posts are kosher, and anyway: who cares? DB isn't a reporter or student or a professional writer. As he'd be the first to tell you, he's just a dumb blogger. He's a (small) thief maybe, but he is our thief, and someone who has done plenty for the community and for other bloggers."

Speak for yourself. I dont think hes MY anything. Hes simply a theif. Small or large, I agree with Chanas comment above, a very wise young woman.

I dont think hes done much for other bloggers either. Hes notoriously bad about stealing posts and links without hattipping. He is rude to commentators on his blog daily. For crimes as small as having diferent politics.

Face it. Most people out here are savoring this. Dovbears not exactly everyones favorite blogger from personal view. Whether he was entertaining before this or not, this sideshow is far more entertaining.

Anonymous said...

Of course you are the host. No one else but DovWeasel even cares about this anymore. You tried to take down one of the blogosphere's most popular blogs. You gave him a (deserved) black eye, but fell short of your goal: He's not destroyed, because most everyone agrees his crimes were minor. So nice try, and why don't you find a new hobby?

Anonymous said...

Of course you are the host. No one else but DovWeasel even cares about this anymore.

You think that if you say either of these points enough times we will all believe it?

Anonymous said...

Here are some of the examples that I was talking about in the comment on SIW's blog that you link in this post:

DB:

Ezekiel 16:46-50 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

RK:

Your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. You not only followed their ways, and acted according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Ezekiel 16:46-50

DB:

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a If one wounded his neighbor they would say to the victim, Give him a fee for [performing the service] of bloodletting... If a poor man happened to come there, every resident gave him a coin upon which he wrote his name, but no bread was given [the store owners recognized the coins, and refused to accept them]. When he died, each came and took back his[coin]

RK:

The men of Sodom waxed haughty only on account of the good which the Holy One, blessed be He, had lavished upon them...They said: Since there cometh forth bread out of (our) earth, and it hath the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish the practice of travelling in our land...
There were four judges in Sodom named Shakrai (Liar), Shakurai (Awful Liar), Zayyafi (Forger), and Mazle Dina (Perverter of Justice). Now if a man assaulted his neighbour's wife and bruised her, they would say to the husband, Give her to him, that she may become pregnant for thee. If one cut off the ear of his neighbour's ass, they would order, Give it to him until it grows again.
If one wounded his neighbour they would say to the victim, Give him a fee for bleeding thee [bloodletting was sometimes considered medically beneficial in those days; Here the Sodomite judge cruelly ruled that if one beats you until you bleed, you owe your attacker money for this "beneficial" medical service"...]
... they had beds upon which travellers slept. If the guest was too long they shortened him by lopping off his feet; if too short, they stretched him out...
If a poor man happened to come there, every resident gave him a denar [coin], upon which he wrote his name, but no bread was given [the store owners recognized such coins, and refused toa accept them]. When he died, each came and took back his (denar)...
A certain maiden gave some bread to a poor man, hiding it in a pitcher. On the matter becoming known, they daubed her with honey and placed her on the parapet of the wall, and the bees came and consumed her. Thus it is written, And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, because it is great (rabbah): whereupon Rab Judah commented in Rab's name: on account of the maiden (ribah).

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a

DB:

Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer: Rabbi Ze era said: The men of Sodom were the wealthy men of prosperity, on account of the good and fruitful land whereon they dwelt... Rabbi Nathaniel said: The men of Sodom had no consideration for the honour of their Owner by not distributing food to the wayfarer and stranger, but they even fenced in all the trees on top above their fruit so that so that they should not be seized; not even by the bird of heaven... Rabbi Joshua... said: They appointed over themselves judges who were lying judges, and they oppressed every wayfarer and stranger who entered Sodom by their perverse judgment, and they sent them forth naked... Rabbi Jehudah said: They made a proclamation in Sodom saying: Everyone who strengthens the hand of the poor or the needy with a loaf of bread shall be burnt by fire

Anonymous said...

It's not true to say that only DovWeasel cares about this issue. Dov Bear has mislead people and they feel betrayed. We all take blogging very seriously- and dismissing these allegations with "get a life/it's just a blog" is implying that blogging isn't an important part of our lives.

DB should apologize beyond someone else's comments box if he wants to regain his credibility with the JBloggers. If that isn't important to him, then I guess he'll eventually cease being important to them.

Anonymous said...

Shmarya, you look silly with that example. the only thing dovbear actually tweaked in that post were the third-party sources. How about the introductory paragraph, which he copied and pasted word for word, down the the use of asterisks? Shmarya, now youre being disingenuous.

Anonymous said...

THE only original blog out there is Creedmoorer Chassidus http://creedmoorer.blogspot.com

All the rest is commentary

yitz said...

not attributing is the worst blog-crime in existence--- he could have posted the same post and just told people where he got it from and no one would have minded.. the whole point of blogs is to be able to quote others and create dialog.. there's nothing worse than stealing another writer/blogger's words (aka not attributing authorship)

Anonymous said...

DB banned me from commenting! He said he wouldnt edit or delete comments that he didnt like, but i guess that doesnt include allowing comments he doesnt like to be published! what a hypocrite! the open flow of ideas, my foot! the king of encouraging free speech! check out my comments and see if i do anything there that makes me ban-worthy. all i said is that this is a serious offense and not to be minimized. and now i get this message when i try to comment:

Banned by webmaster. Your comments will not be added

Anonymous said...

Atlas,
When your writing skills approach the level of Dovbears' in 1st grade you should be happy.
You are a whiny narcissist who sits by the computer all day long to delete any posts that are critical of you.
The goverment should stop your welfare payments so you get off your ass and do something and you should be force fed your meds!
Hey a-hole censor this!

To DovWeasel,
I love reading Dovbear, though I disagree many times, you however, have done a public service since it seemed that Dovbears ego and head were getting to big for themselves.
Dovbear:be a man and come clean!

Anonymous said...

He actually did respond to it, on his blog
http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2006/12/my-mea-culpa.html

Anonymous said...

"There's no such thing as an acceptable level of plagiarism. "

On the internet? On a blog? You CAN'T be serious!

I put quote marks on everything, but if I were writing all the crap that DB writes, I'm sure I'd slip as well. But, I think the problem with plagiarism is not as much the lack of attribution, as credit for "brilliant" ideas, but rather for monetary loss.

Also, if you've noticed, the AP/Reuters, etc will syndicate stories. Blogs in many ways syndicate ideas. The best posts DB has done have almost always been those that cite the posts of others, e.g. the famous Mis-nagid Chanuka post.

I think you're wasting a lot of time here, but knock yourself out.

Anonymous said...

Are all the anonymous commenters (except me) just DovBear defending himself?

It would seem that way.

Anonymous said...

"But, I think the problem with plagiarism is not as much the lack of attribution, as credit for "brilliant" ideas, but rather for monetary loss."

You are confusing plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Anonymous said...

i yjink youve done a great job of exposing this egomaniac fraud
think of all the blogs you didnt catch... cockroaches come in pairs..

Anonymous said...

you have no life.

Anonymous said...

Thank you DovWeasel for pointing out what a stinking hypocrite DovBear is. I can't say I'm surprised. There's nothing about him that makes you think he's actually an upstanding person but it's good to know what an out and out liar he truly is.

All those who make nothing of it are simply denying the obvious.

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