"Casey Wilson" wrote in
news:s5xzh.614$hp4.248@trnddc02:

I realized today that I have been recently scanning down through the
posts on R.A.P. not to learn something new, but instead to find out what
kind of spew the troll is serving up. I feel I owe the rest of my real
flying colleagues an apology. For that reason and that reason alone, I
am going to retire from the newsgroup. My biggest regret is that
Msxmanic will undoubtedly, in his maniacal way, gloat over having won.

Quite frankly, I think many of us who have been infuriated by Manix's
tactics have gone through this. As members-in-good-standing of this
community, I think we take more ownership than is due of the newsgroup. The
harsh reality is that pilot or not, he has as much right to express his
opinion about piloting on this newsgroup as we do - it's a public forum.
There's nothing we can do to stop him. It's akin to any or all of us
gathering up in peaceful protest outside his apartment in Paris with signs
saying that he doesn't know the first thing about tourism in Paris. It's
injurious and obnoxious for sure. But unfortunately, there's no real
recourse.

I suspect that after a short break you'll miss us and be back. Hopefully,
when you come back, you'll learn to deal with his antics. Personally, I've
gone through several iterations of it. At this point, I don't even have him
killfiled anymore.

I think the trick is not to go back and forth with him once he starts
using his "pick-a-point" tactic. Most of the discussions with him seem to
start off as typical debate, which we saw much of here even before his
arrival. When he starts quoting and disputing less-than-primary points of
an opponent's argument in order to prove the other person wrong or steer
the conversation to his utility, that's when I move on.

I don't think he's going to go away until he tires of the group. That time
will be up to him. But it shouldn't be too difficult to filter out what you
don't like on this group - not necessarily using technology, but just by
adjusting your own reading style...