h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There appears to be a real life Murray Strauss. He's written some books. He's a sociologist who investigates domestic abuse. Search google.

Quincy, if I recall, has mentioned that his name is Murray Strauss. It should be a simple matter to obtain some contact for him from the web, and ask him if he's ever used h2g2 under the name of 'Quincy'. If yes, then all the better. If no, then Quincy's ISP can be notified that the person who used such and such an IP at such and such a time has been impersonating a doctor, and do they think this might be against their acceptable use policies?

Just a thought.

very interesting news, I'll be watching to see how this develops.

Is it just me, or is there no evidence to suggest that Quincy was Lekz?

Stylistic similarities and similar interests. Convinces some people, doesn't convince others.

Incidentally, if anyone can think of any reason why I *shouldn't* do what I mentioned above, please say so. If I don't get anything negative in twelve hours or so, I'll try it myself.

That particular Murray Strauss is a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire. Not the same person.

A national white pages search (US) yielded seven people with listed telephone numbers named Murray Strauss.

You're eight minutes ahead of me - I just found out the same thing.

Additionally, most doctors do *not* have published phone listings for their home phones. Those who do would not necessarily have 'MD' listed with their name.

Many doctors do not have phone listings for their office since they work as part of firms which are listed instead. My doctor is one such -- though his name is not Murray Strauss.

Further, doctor's receptionists are paid to transfer you to hold while someone thinks about contacting the doctor's nurse to see if the doctor would be interested in talking to some stranger from outside the country in the middle of his appointments.

Doctor's nurses would then prioritize the doctor's callbacks, generally after the day's appointments are over and the doctor might not want to call you back to tell you 'yes' *or* 'no'.

But then, Quincy told us he is not working as a physician but as a forensic pathologist. So to reach him, you would need to find the particular morgue he was working at.

Of course, Quincy told us that he is on leave right now so you wouldn't find him at the morgue, either. And the police department would *not* give you his current location or home number.

Both 'Murray' and 'Strauss' are very common Jewish names. And, being a 'doctuh' is, of course, a Jewish grandmother's dream. (It comes right after 'My grandson, the rabbi. ')

As far as reporting a person who is claiming to be a doctor, you would *not* have found the imposter or you would not be calling the police. And, you might want to consider start investigating the 145+ researchers on h2g2 who call themselves Dr. Something Or Other.

Martin,

The man identified himself as an MD who does not practice and who stated that it was illegal to practice on the web. He gave general information and made suggestions which he qualified by stating that the person should see a doctor for proper advice.

Someone, not you, stated that a person might come along and read what was written and take that 'advice' without seeing a doctor. I seem to remember you having written an article on the Molotov Cocktail which had similar criticism leveled at it. Your article is in the guide and the instructions that the editors did pass are more detailed than any advice Quincy has given.

Let's not go overboard, here.

The editors have stated that Quincy is not being threatened with being banned because of flaming or because of having given advice. He is being threatened because researchers, who have not been willing to say so in public (according to the editors), have said that they believe that he is LeKZ.

You have brought forward the idea of harrasing doctors named Murray
Strauss in an effort at playing detective. Please think just what you were doing.

Instead, give a ring down to the local tobaconist and ask if they have Prince Albert in a can.

Barton

"most doctors do *not* have published phone listings for their home phones" blah blah blah blah blah "and the doctor might not want to call you back to tell you 'yes' *or* 'no'"

If a doctor has been prevented from using a website, and has any desire *at all* to continue to use it, it would be desperately simple for him to arrange an independently verifiable contact.

"you might want to consider start investigating the 145+ researchers on h2g2 who call themselves Dr. Something Or Other"

The title "Doctor" can be applied, not only to medical practitioners, but also to holders of doctorate qualifications in any disciple. Impersonating a doctor of music is not a criminal offence. Impersonating a medical doctor is.

Only a buffoon would suggest that screen-names like "Dr. Gonzo" are intended to be deceptive. Only a complete moron would assume someone using a name like that was seriously claiming to be medic.

On the other hand, quoting from Barton - "The man identified himself as an MD". So, if the person using the Quincy account is not a qualified doctor - they're impersonating one. This is quite a simple concept. I'm therefore not surprised that it is below the notice of some people here.

"the idea of harrasing doctors named Murray Strauss" - ringing up once during office hours and asking a single simple question hardly constitutes harrassment - "Let's not go overboard, here." For something more like the legal definition of harrassment, you might like to imagine ringing someone repeatedly in the middle of the night.

H.

I really wish it were a crime to have one's phone rung repeatedly at any time of the day. The telemarketers are driving me crazy not to mention the person or persons unknown who call and hang up when I answer, several times a day.

Of course, it is possible here in the States to dial a number which causes the system to call back the last caller. It costs a small fee and you get the satisfaction of hanging up on that person who just hung up on you.

The trouble is that you still don't know who called. You could find yourself calling back a number to one of those off shore exchanges that charges $100.00 per minute and you *did* make the call, so there you are.

Hoovooloo, you seem to be doing a lot of complaining these days nearly everywhere about nearly everything. Have you ever considered switching to a decafinated coffee? Or, seeing a doctor about your nerves?

Barton

Here in the UK, it's called 1471 and it tells you the number, costs around 10p. Then you choose whether to call back, by pressing a key, or to hang up. The caller can, however, withhold their number...

Could anybody please tell me where the name Murray Strauss, MD is linked to Quincy on-site?

I know exactly who's calling. Some would say it is my own fault for having given the perpetrator my phone number. I have no desire to call them back and hang up, because I have no desire to waste time or money interacting with them.

The reason I know the identity of the perpetrator is because they are leaving messages. They know perfectly well that I have no desire to speak to them, especially after midnight, but they have specifically stated within the last 24 hours that despite this they will continue to ring me any time they feel like it and they don't see any reason why they shouldn't.

To Barton, I "seem to be doing a lot of complaining these days nearly everywhere about nearly everything". To my certain knowledge, I don't even post "nearly everywhere". (I'm not LeKZ, after all). I've not complained about things (I'm not even complaining, here, about the telephone harrassment, per se, just observing that it's happening to me), I think, and if I have, any complaints have formed a very, very small proportion of what I've posted here.

I don't drink coffee, Barton, and my nerves are fine, but have you considered seeing a doctor about your apparent problems with selective eyesight?

H.

I just thought I stop by to say I was going to let Hoovooloo have the last word about not having said anything.

Barton

Maybe someone should start a new conversation. In homage to DNA, it could be called :-

'Everything you never wanted to know about LeKZ, but have been forced to find out'

WTF Quincy might make of all the conversations here if he isn't LeKZ, I can't imagine.

i'd like to point out that whether or not quincy's allowed back, accusing him of impersonating a doctor isn't probably a very good idea. he could get really mad and sue, if he is one, and i figure he is.



wall flower girl

sue for what? defamation?

This is a matter of public interest, and I've written here without 'malice' (I don't know Quincy) my honest beliefs. As such, what I've written is 'fair comment'.

Tube - I saw somebody else mention the name and some other personal details - and link to a forum where they are written (to forestall the mods). I tried to find that link, but couldn't - it's in the backlog somewhere no doubt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F82344?thread=160630 That's the Murray, S., MD bit. I thought I saw Strauss somewhere too...

Whether this person is L**z or anybody else, surely it's what the new persona has actually *done* that is important. I haven't been following this one too closely, I still haven't recovered from the last round...

Whoami?

Thanks Lucinda!

The only thing I've seen so far that Quincy wrote that made me wonder if they were what they said they were were the postings in the conversation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F19585&thread=148770&skip=160&show=20

which had a ring of exaggeration which seemed strange for someone of Qunicy's profession.

ie

a) Almost all (or even all) female victims of suicides, drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, drunken car crashes, and strokes show clear clinical signs of physical domestic abuse.

b) Whereever Quincy worked, Quincy has encountered *at least* one such victim of obvious domestic violence every single day of a 22 year professional career.

c) Every female who died of of anorexia that Quincy has ever seen has been the victim of incessant physical abuse.



Given something like 12 deaths per day in a city like Denver City, (which is where I think Quincy is supposed to be?) presumably half are male, and that only a fraction of the (average) 6 women will have an autopsy, I would have thought that even one person examining *every* female body from the whole city would be hard pushed to find evidence of abuse every single day, unless the overwhelming majority of women have clear evidence of past injuries that have no explanation except for domestic violence.

In the context of the conversation, I can see why some people might be tempted to exaggerate a little to stress a point, but I would have thought a pathologist would tend to be particularly cautious in making such categorical statements.