I don’¢t know why I do it. I’ve placed a couple of comments on Richard Hoagland’s web log. Mostly I’m suggesting that he should lay-off the NASA bashing and try to do something positive, like actually support the space program.
Getting some interesting response.
It’s kind of amusing. Richard C. Hoagland is already yammering and yelling about a NASA cover-up of the recent Deep Impact probe.
“No one at NASA has shown us ANY REAL DATA on what Deep Impact actually found from these “impressive” instruments… for two whole weeks–
From a $333 million dollar mission that, again, we paid for!
And, the real story here is that–
No one really cares ….
.. I mean — no new images … no spectra (!) … no excited Mission scientists publicly going on and on about all the “marvelous new data” … at the obligatory NASA press conferences … where they could be questioned by equally excited members of the press”
Yes sheeze! It’s been almost two solid weeks! Come on! We should know everything there is to know about comets now, hell! We should have spent the 333million on a sequel to Armageddon, why waste all this taxpayer money on a science project? Especially one that refuses to turn over all it’s data to “science guy” Richard C. Hoagland for TWO WEEKS!!!!!
(gaaa!)
I get all kinds of letters here at the Odd Empire. Many of them are polite, thoughtful. There are others though which are not polite nor thoughtful. Downright strange, weird and not a little creepy. It would be a shame to keep all of these to ourselves.
Recently on the Odd Empire home page I placed several endorsements that we have received over the years. Quotes as it were from people I would term “communicatively challenged.” Some are unbelievably rude, others are strange or just silly.
After putting up some of these blurbs I wandered around the expansive Odd Empire Imperial Palace Compound, finding myself in the dank, Imperial Dungeon I was approached by the Imperial Postmaster who had a smoking letter on his fine silver letter plate.
***
From seaglow99@yahoo.com;
I do not how you decided Regan Lee made the comments you have quoted on your web site, but it would be only correct if you were to fix that immediately. If not I will take legal action. Do not take this as a challenge or taunt or anything else. I am serious. I use many ID’s and use many sources, and you cannot say with certainity [sic] I am, or am not, a specific individual. It is also beneath even you to do this. And a very low blow. Considering I’ve taken down my blog, etc. and here you go and assume a certain name is also the same person who made those comments. What possible purpose is there in your doing this? Prove yourself right and me wrong; in other words, prove me wrong that you aren’t a slimeball, and a stalker, and make the correction. Do not respond to me, just make the correction, and do it now. If not, I will proceed with legal action.
***
Hmm, I was thinking about waking the Hounds-of Hell, that would be the law firm of Labrusky, Skinflint, Shyster, and his larger brother Leo but they were happily asleep in the Imperial Dungeon, I decided not to disturb them for now.
To my untrained eye, this letter seems contradictory on several fronts.
Here is my commentary on the letter the short version first;
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I feel that it is impossible to respond to the writer at this time. If in the future the writer of this message chooses to outline their concerns in clear, plain, polite language I will be more than happy to think about what they are saying. Since the letter was written very early in the morning and is not carefully crafted (like one would expect for a “please remove content” request) I must assume that the writer is *not* or *should not* be serious.
***
Now; each section of the letter in turn.
“I do not (know) how you decided Regan Lee made the comments you have quoted on your web site, but it would be only correct if you were to fix that immediately.”
The first part is easy. One of the Imperial Technoflunkies gave me the information and we are very sure it is correct. (That’s what I pay them for.) The second part I can deal with in a moment for it’s repeated.
“If not I will take legal action. Do not take this as a challenge or taunt or anything else. I am serious. ”
Oh I believe you, I believe you believe that you are serious. However if I were to truly take this letter at face value than it is not really much *of* anything is it? It is not a taunt, nor a challenge nor a request for anything. “Legal action?” That covers such a wide range of things. What kind of legal action? It helps to be more specific. (In this case the “legal action” turned out to be doxing people on webages like Storemfront, a notorious white supremacist slime pit. -editor)
“I use many ID’s and use many sources, and you cannot say with certainity [sic] I am, or am not, a specific individual.”
That is incorrect–part of it is anyway. This person does have many email accounts that much is true. However my technoflunky can say *with* utter certainty that this person did in fact relate such verbiage in a number of messages. Even though she has many sock-puppets and many different alias, it can be very hard to be anonymous on the Internet. Any technoflunky will tell you that.
If I were to use your logic however; I could not be certain that *you* are who you say you are . You could be anyone. If you are correct, I cannot even be sure we are talking with each other. (Although I am very sure who I am, do you know who you are?)
“It is also beneath even you to do this. And a very low blow.”
Interesting that someone who has already made many public statements as to my demeanor, called me things like “stalker,” “psycho” and implied that I’m a serial rapist is worried about “low blows.” I feel the world should be enlightened as I have been.
“Considering I’ve taken down my blog, etc. and here you go and assume a certain name is also the same person who made those comments.”
I did give that some consideration . First off, you have not taken down your web log (at the time of this writing), you have only de-linked it with a message suggesting that you might put it back someday. Either you are lying or you really don’t know better. I’m not sure which one is true yet.
What I find here is someone who believes they can say whatever they want with impunity and that just pulling off a link absolves any responsibility for their statements. That is simply incredible to the Odd Emperor. If one cannot stand by ones statements either don’t say them or retract them! Don’t simply pretend it didn’t didn’t happen, that’s very dishonest to yourself and personally irritating to the Odd Emperor.
The Internet is a form of publishing. If you libel someone you have libeled them pure and simple. If offense is taken they have a number of options available including legal action. Although one would think that such a drastic, time consuming and utterly fruitless choice would be the very last resort, unless you are like the writer of this letter.
Even when you pull your page the echoes will still be flipping from one server to another for years. Besides, If you are the author of Psycho Skeptics your motivation for pulling the page was not done in the spirit of reconciliation or mutual understanding.
As a matter of fact, you actually said so.
“What possible purpose is there in your doing this?”
See above.
“Prove yourself right and me wrong;”
Sorry, it is not necessary for me to do that.
“in other words, prove me wrong that you aren’t a slimeball, and a stalker, and make the correction.”
I tis not necessary to do that either. The choices I make on the Odd Empire do not make me a slimeball etc simply because someone says so. I also do not allow people like, ….well this individual to dictate who and what I am. My demeanor is reflected by how I respond to challenges, as are everyone’s. If I behave like a slimeball it is because I choose to. If telling the truth is slimy to some people than by that standard I am proud to be a slimeball. Perhaps the reason that this person’s name is displayed next to her own rude statements is indicative of my idea that “rudeness has its own rewards.”
–Or, something like that.
“Do not respond to me, just make the correction, and do it now. If not, I will proceed with legal action.”
Oooh! Two legal threats!
But here we get sticky. Legal action for what? What is correct? In my opinion, those statements are already correct. Did Regan Lee posting as seaglow99@yahoo.com not make them? Are they lies? Can you prove the Regan Lee did not make those statements?I can prove that Regan Lee did indeed make those statements and many others. This kind of thing is only defamatory if —
You want to see the proof? You can always ask.
Besides; you failed to detail exactly what you believe is wrong. For if the name Regan Lee is incorrect, you have nothing to worry about. Whoever Regan Lee is can contact me, I will consider any reasonable changes to the Odd Empire as detailed on my IFAQ page that is to wit The Odd Emperor will respond to any polite inquiries and consider all requests as described on the disclaimer on every page of the Empire of the Odd web page.” The history of the page (should you bother to look) suggests that I do exactly that.
If the name is correct and the words were in fact uttered by Regan Lee than changing them would not be correct. Right?
Or should I obey your demand and not respond at all? Since the words “Do not respond to me” are part of this message I can’t be accused of promptly not responding–can I?
Which one do you want?
You might want to speak to a legal professioal before shooting crap like this at me again, you might also try communicating and not ordering. Communicating works, what you (Regan) are doing here just get you in deeper.
Oh yes, the terms “slimeball, and stalker” are not very polite, are they?
***
These are questions that the Odd Emperor ponders for a very few moments as he watches the Hounds of Hell in their peaceful slumber. Soon however, he takes his leave on the dank Dungeon and climbs back into the light and his luncheon.
I was perusing around the Internet and ran across this definition, it sounded … so right somehow. Where have I run into this kind of person…. Think Odd Emperor think!
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/troll.htm
***
Domination Trolls;
Recently, it has become apparent that there are probably trolls also operating as list managers. I am unclear as to the specific motivations for this type of activity, but it may be:
* gratification from dominating the emotional lives of list members
* gangland ware – where one group sets up a list and aims to defend
it from other trolling groups
* a genuine area of interest on behalf of the troll
Nevertheless, the lesson behind this is that you need to get verification data for list managers as well as other list members.
***
Anyway; the entire piece is pretty interesting. I’ve run into all kinds of people on the Internet. Some have been quite charming and some have more than resembled the types detailed in this article.
As I said; fascinating.
This Wikipida entry on Scientology religious belief system .
Space opera in Scientology doctrine
(Welcome to the early 21st century.)
If anyone deserves to have their own weblog, it’s the world-famous Richard Hoagland. This is liable to be a regular stop for the Odd Emperor. Can’t wait to see what he goes on about next.
So far, only two posts.
I’m always astounded by India Daily. Each time I see a newâ€â€crazy article in their sciece and technology section I think, “there’s no way they can top this.â€? You see how wrong the Odd Emperor is? They manage to top themselves almost every time.
Here’s a bit on the Deep Impact comet probe. They admit that smacking into the comet with a probe is not going to cause it to smack into the Earth. This isn’t Hollywood after all. But smashing a hole in the comet might just cause inter-dimensional damage. Good grief!
But here’s another one. Comets have secret UFO bases. And we are crashing a probe into a comet, that means strange aliens will be declaring war on the planet Earth, could keep India Daily in stories for months.
I noticed the Red Queen has taken down her Psycho-Diary. Probably for the best. It’s got to wear thin after a while and, although it’s kind of amusing it really did not accomplish very much.
On to happier subject. I’ve been corresponding with Nancy from
The Project at Earth.
She’s the alien contactee with the cleaning service. I’ve found she’s a very nice lady with some deeply held convictions regarding how the universe is put together. We have been having a very enlightening dialog and I hope we can continue. I still think her ideas are a little out-there but, that’s what makes them interesting!
She started a thread about Redfern’s book regarding Roswell. Redfern suggests that it was not aliens but the bad old US government doing ghastly experiments of Japanese prisoners that caused the crash. That the Air Force put them into gliders and crashed them into some poor farmers sheep ranch. While not as far fetched as the aliens idea, it’s pretty far fetched.
That aside, The Red Queen is actually trying to make nice on JREF! She’s holding her own in a conversation with skeptics, and not losing her temper! Big kudos for that!
But then she has to go and write this in her “diary of a psychotic skeptic. (I’m pretty sure she is *not* a skeptic, that title has always confused me.)
June 25, 2005: I’m astounded by the almost complete deafening slience by skeptics and debunkers about Nick Redfern’s book on Roswell. I started a thread on this on the JREF; so far, not one response. I posted about it on Forteans and Skeptics, and the resident skeptic has made the usual weak jokes and maddening dismissive comments. Truly incredible.
Same creepy skeptoid bully nonsense: kicks sand in your face, wonders why you “whine” about it, kicks more sand in your face. Oy. Assholes.
On Forteans and Sketpics there seems to be only one skeptic; if there are others, they haven’t posted. The two that were on there were booted off due to their extremely nasty behavior. Interesting comment on sketptoid-ism; they can’t seem to handle a fairly neutral field, or one that is skewed a bit towards the “woo” side, as admitedly, Forteans and Skeptics is. Seems only if it’s on their turf, where they gang up on you, as in JREF, sci forum, (sometimes they’re fairly decent though) or when they can troll or join innocent pro woo forums minding their own business. Given the opportunity to behave and discuss with woos, they’ll cop out every time.
I guess the same skeptoid [sic] bully would be none only than the Odd Emperor. (It helps to say what you mean dear, like I don’t know who you are spewing about. ) Anyone who has seriously challenged you has been booted out, you know that!
Saying that any of your lists are just “skewed a bit” is like proclaiming the Holocaust never happened, it’s simply a lie and it gets bigger the more you say it. The only way that one can possibly change a reputation is to become what you want people to think you are and wait. Proclaiming that beans are peas will not make it so. Proclaiming that other people are bad or that you are not biased will not make it so. Just like erasing history–it will never *ever* really change history. Clapping your hands to your ears and yelling LALALALA won’t change things either. It only makes things worse.
I love the analogy of that Charles Atlas comic book ad. You kick sand in my face I kick sand back into in yours, you kick sand at me (and whine about it) I kick sand back at you. You kick more sand and whine louder, I kick more sand back at you infanitum.
The difference between you and I? My lines of communication are always open while yours are closed. If you truly would like to end the blogwar you have but three choices (in order of preference.)
(1) Email me and try to figure out a compromise, I’m pretty approachable so long as I’m not cussed at or otherwise treated with disrespect. Remember you still owe me a book review or two, think I was not serious?
(2) Stop writing smack on your psychotic diary and I might stop responding. (boring yes but it would probably work.)
(3) Try to get me yanked off of my ISP, good luck on that! Even if you could I’d probably just pop up somewhere else. Then I would have a cool chronicle of how someone tried to yank me off the air.
Of course you may want to continue the blog war in which case, bring it on dear!
The Odd Emperor
